Reviews the terminological, methodological, and pedagogical confusion present in the German textbooks of the past 15 years, and proposes an improved terminology for teaching 4 basic grammatical components: strong verbs, mixed verbs, declensions, and the subjunctive. The new terminology is based on the principle of rational simplicity. (21…

Ten language-impaired children, aged 4-6, were found to exhibit more pronounced syntactic deficits than 10 normal children matched by mean length of utterance. Language samples were analyzed with respect to: grammatical marker need index; grammatical marker error index; and grammatical marker errors for nouns, verbs, bound, and unbound forms.…

Applies Reid's notion of verbal focus to explain the distinction between preterite (high focus) and imperfect (low focus) to determine tense in Spanish. Data from two contemporary short stories document variables affecting focus. Techniques for teaching preterite and imperfect and some class activities are suggested. (LMO)

Analyzes the "easy to be V" structure in terms of the semantic features of sentences with this structure. These sentences can be classified into types, ranging from the "prototype" with the most features contributing to its transparency, to the "peripheral" with the fewest of such features. (Author/CB)

Focuses on how to teach English-speaking students of Spanish the practical distinction between the verbs, "saber" (to be cognizant of) and "conocer" (to be acquainted with). This article describes a solution proposed by K. Taylor for explaining the limits of the two verbs and examines similar proposals delineated in three other Spanish textbooks.…

Northern Andean Spanish (NAS) possesses a complex system of structures used in impositive speech. NAS speakers choose from several grammatical possibilities when asking their interlocutor to act. This article summarizes the grammatical possibilities and explains how the different forms are used to indicate different levels of politeness. (15…

Explores the relation between interrogative, a category of grammatical form, and question, a category of meaning. Mismatches between interrogative phrases and questioned elements are also investigated. Two kinds of interrogative and three kinds of question are distinguished. (47 references) (Author/CK)

This study examined initial preferences for verb interpretation by 15 5-year-old children with specific language impairment, 15 language-matched children, and 15 age-matched children. Children indicated preferred interpretations of novel verbs from videotapes of motion and change-of-state activity scenes. Findings suggested that children's verb…

Whether a deaf child not exposed to conventional language would incorporate a distinction between nouns and verbs into his self-styled communication system (through gestures) was studied. The distinction between verbs and nouns appeared in the child's communication system, suggesting that it is fundamental to human language. (SLD)

Discusses word order variation in the speech of adult and preschool speakers of French, focusing on the acquisition of French grammar by two-year olds. Preschool children were found to rely heavily on verb-complement-subject word order while avoiding verb-subject-complement constructions. Explanations for this phenomenon are considered. (82…

The causal structure of schemas for the actions and states by different classes of English verbs was examined in the elicited narratives of 19 preschool children. Results showed that verbs within a class elicited similar narratives, whereas across classes the event descriptions varied in the animacy of the event participants and the causal…

The study analyzes four- to eight-year-old French children's acquisition of conditional verb forms. Relevant data in the literature and results of an experiment designed to gain information on the temporal meaning of young children's past conditional verb forms are presented and discussed. (25 references) (KM)

Study of verb-copying in Mandarin Chinese, focusing on its relationship to the thematic structures of verbs and on phrase structures, shows that the function of verb-copying is to highlight the quantity element in a sentence. (21 references) (Author/CB)

In four experiments with children aged 3;2 to 8;10, subjects were found more likely to regularize denominal verbs than homophonous irregular verb roots and more likely to regularize exocentric nouns than homophonous irregular endocentric nouns. Children at an early age are sensitive to abstract linguistic notions that underlie adults' linguistic…

Presents basic rules governing the use of German predicates that are interpreted as but not synonymous with "be" or "put" in English, focusing on the verbs' special characteristics and correct usage in authentic German sentences. (12 references) (Author/CB)