We study the learnability problem concerning the dative alternations in English (Baker, 1979; Pinker, 1989). We consider how first language learners productively apply the double-object and to-dative constructions ("give the book to library"/"give the library the book"), while excluding negative exceptions ("donate the…

Contends that the rule "do not split infinitives" is a proper subset of the rule "do not split verbs," and that both should be taught. (DD)

In a recent paper [Lidz, J., Gleitman, H., & Gleitman, L. (2003). Understanding how input matters: Verb learning and the footprint of universal grammar. "Cognition," 87, 151-178], we provided cross-linguistic evidence in favor of the following linked assertions: (i) Verb argument structure is a correlate of verb meaning; (ii) However, argument…

Attempts to solve, by means of examples, some of the current problems in predicate raising (PR) in the theory of generative semantics. (Text is in German.) (DS)

This research is the result of 10 weeks of field work in Taiwan during the summer of 1972. It consists of a description, analysis, and comparison of the morphologically marked causative verbs in Rukai, Bunun, Tsou, Anis, Seedig, and Saisiyat. The theoretical framework employed is a type of case grammar referred to as "lexicase," a…

Author presents a system of grammar similar to generative-transformational grammar, but including structural variations characteristic of other levels of usage (including dialects). Flow charts are used, and implications for computer programs are briefly mentioned. (Author/SP)

Examines several subtypes of the verbal sequency NP-VP1-VP2 in Chinese, especially those involving descriptions of human action, directed motion, and instrumental functions, and finds that these could be subsumed under the heading of "purposive clauses." The VP1 states an action whose goal is fulfilled by the action performed in VP2. (Author/RM)

This paper is a study of the subclassification of English verbs in generative grammar. It is intended to discuss the subclassification of English verbs in terms of complement types and to investigate the problem of nonlocalization in complement constructions. Some verbs permit a "whether"-complement or a "that"-complement if…

An analysis of the derivation of "why" and other interrogative adverbs shows that they do not involve the movement of NP's, and therefore do not present counter-examples to the NP Ecology Constraint. (Author/HP)

Attempts a sketchy classification of English causative verbs, using various linguistic theories but primarily that of generative grammar. (Text is in French.) (AM)

The assumption that the active/passive relation is structural in nature and therefore best expressed by a transformation is debated. The relation can be captured in the lexicon without a passive transformation. An interpretive rule is proposed to handle the problem. Passives are shown as generated by phrase structure rules. (SC)

Dissatisfaction with the standard transformational grammar approach to teaching passive voice sentences gave rise to the method developed. It is based on the framework of a lexical-functional grammar, which claims that both active and passive sentences are base-generated, and that both active and passive verb forms occur in the lexicon. It would…

The following aspects of syntax in Indian English are examined: complex sentence formation, interrogative transformation, verb forms, and complementation. It is argued that a set of syntactic rules exists in all non-native second language varieties of English that will generate the non-stylistic deviant patterns discussed. (KM)

There is a class of verbs in French which require that their complement verb be in the indicative. However, if the matrix clause contains a negative or an interrogative, the complement verb is usually in the subjunctive, but sometimes in the indicative. Examples are the verbs "penser" and "croire" in sentences such as: 1) Elle…