Linguistic expressions involving body parts (and other entities) belonging to an "interested person" often have unique grammatical properties, e.g., the dative case in Russian. The notion called Inalienable Possession (IP) is used to account for such properties. Semantic and pragmatic analyses account for some of the properties of IP in Russian.…

Discusses some of the main theories about the present perfect tense and some misconceptions of interest to teachers. Emphasizes two theories of why and when a speaker uses of present perfect tense: the idea of "current relevance" and the idea of "the indefinite past," which merit further research. (SED)

Summarizes some findings on mood selection in Spanish resulting from various research projects and suggests guidelines for teaching the subjunctive at the beginning level. Suggests that teachers concentrate on commands and adverbial expressions in the beginning levels because they constitute the structures most needed to engage in speech. (SED)

Action word and object word productions of 12 language-normal and language-impaired young children were examined. Results revealed that percentage of consonants produced correctly within the spontaneous speech of both groups was higher for object words. The production advantage for object words was maintained even when certain input factors were…

Describes a study that tried to answer the following: (1) Are the passives of all actional verbs equally easy to understand? (2) Are the passives of all experiential verbs in a child's vocabulary about equally hard to understand? (3) Does comprehension of passives differ from verb to verb in a category? (SED)

Reports on several stages of development in the acquisition of the Spanish copulas "ser" and "estar" by adult learners of Spanish and how the data relate to current hypotheses about second language acquisition. Postulates three stages of competence in the use of "ser" and "estar." (SED)

Formulates the following rules for the use of the passive progressive in English: (1) if the verbal predication is "telic" we have to use the passive progressive in order to express that the action is still going on, and (2) if the verbal predication is "atelic" the use of the passive progressive is facultative. (SED)

Refutes the idea of traditional philologists that the syntax of Latin verbs of fearing is idiosyncratic. Maintains that these verbs are inherently negative in Latin, and they conform in every respect to the highest level of principles of semantic and syntactic behavior that operate throughout the language. (SL)

Proposes a variation of the two-stem system of analyzing the Russian verb. The need for greater organization and systematization is stressed, as well as an increased focus on the great regularity of the Russian verb, and the relative simplicity of Russian verbal morphology. (SL)

Discusses the types of structures that may follow a particular verb in English and attempts some generalization that may be helpful in the English as a second language classroom. (EKN)

Proposes an intensive introductory period, attacking problems presented by these verbs, using a basic list of 60 verbs, to be learned in active and passive, and a subsequent treatment, lasting for years, integrating these verbs into the student's active use, plus acquisition of more such verbs. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

This semantic analysis assumes the overall framework of an extended standard theory of grammar, focusing on the lexicon and making a case for semantic mapping. It assumes Chomsky's (1986) theory that the projection of a verb and its arguments into syntax is determined by its lexical specifications. It further accepts the arguments of Williams…

Third and concluding part of a continued article. (SK)

First part of a continued article. (SK)