Examines single centered, multicentered, and noncentered phrases in a tagmemic framework. (MSE)

Attempts to define the limitations of linguistic theory, and the possibilities of access at the discursive level, based on the hypothesis that there are two types of relatives. Examples are given in German; reference is made to the principles of machine discourse analysis. (Text is in French.) (Author/MSE)

Africanisms are characteristics occurring frequently in African languages but rarely elsewhere. This paper reviews Africanisms presented by Greenberg and Larochette and submits a number of others with sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic relevance. Items are grouped according to phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon. (CK)

Discusses the syntax and morphology of languages of active case or typology, chiefly found in North America (the Nadene, Sioux and Gulf families) and South America (the Tupi-Guarani family). (CK)

Among the features characterizing human language is creativity, the ability to produce an infinite number of sentences with a finite number of rules. What is expected of creativity is non-conformity, violation of rules, and challenges to accepted convention. Words may be used to activate possible contexts. Most textbook sentence examples do not…

Word concepts have long been recognized as an integral part of intelligence, and word definition tasks are frequently used to measure them. Entire subtests requiring definitions, usually called vocabulary tests, are common; because of their apparent stability and comparability with overall intelligence, these subtests have been given a preeminent…

This bibliography lists 31 citations of research reports, books, journal articles, and other publications concerning Karakalpak, one of the smaller languages of the Soviet Union which has an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The citations are also indexed by reverse chronological order, country of origin, and subject. (MSE)

Beyond the first several thousand most commonly used words in a language, direct vocabulary instruction is not efficient. Use of inferential skills then becomes the most effective way of learning new vocabulary; it is the way native speakers build their 60,000 word vocabularies. Because the skill is not automatically transferable, it must be…

An investigation of how Mandarin-speaking children aged three to eight interpret sentences involving the universal quantifier "mei" ("every") and the quantificational adverbs "dou" ("all") and "quan" ("all") focused on how and when the child acquires adult interpretations of the…

The technique developed in this research paper for analyzing the information in charts and graphs is designed to reveal design flaws in the display that may prevent them from conveying information effectively. This analytic scheme requires isolating four types of constituents in a display and specifying their structure and interrelations at the…

A lexicon for Tuvaluan, a Polynesian language spoken in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, contains two parts, a lexicon and a word finder. The lexicon has a traditional format, in which Tuvaluan words are listed alphabetically and defined in English, and in which all additional information on structure, usage, and dialect can be found. The second…

This three-paper report describes Nigel, a large, programmed grammar of English which has been created in the framework of systemic linguistics begun by Halliday, and which, in addition to specifying functions and structures of English, has a novel semantic stratum which specifies the situations for use of each grammatical feature. The…

The extent to which Basque displays ergative characteristics (an ergative language treats the underlying subject of intransitive clauses alike in some manner and differently from the underlying subject of transitive clauses) in its syntax is examined. The amount of evidence needed to conclude that Basque or any other language is ergative is…

The role of court judges as linguists is discussed. Linguistic issues arise in courts when lawyers attempt to convince a court that a statute, insurance policy, or contract should be interpreted as favoring their own client's interests, with respect to resolving a dispute that depends on the proper construal of a particular document. An…

In order to determine the knowledge and skills needed by novice programmers to successfully learn computer programming, four studies were conducted using a clinical interview technique. The first study determined that many systematic errors in programming were due to programmers' high-level misconceptions of the nature of the computer and of the…