Studies of the acquisition of word meaning and the semantic features involved have been mostly confined to noun categories and polar adjectives. Investigation of the semantic categories underlying verb forms has implications not only for theories of child language acquisition but also for theories of semantic structure in general. Experimental…

This assumption that non-standard speakers are limited in their linguistic ability is examined based on a larger study investigating the speech of working-class adolescents in Sydney, Australia's inner-city areas. Speech samples of four children are presented. An examination of verbal structures reveals that there is a predominance of simple…

Studies on the acquisition of relative clauses are reviewed. Two polarities among a variety of possible approaches are: Slobin's (1971) study that emphasizes acquisition process and learning strategies, and studies like Sheldon's (1974) that emphasize the linguistic structures involved. Early proposals that children experience more difficulty in…

This volume consists of the following ten papers, which were presented at the second Hokan-Yuman Languages Workshop, held at the University of California at San Diego in June 1976: (1) "The Havasupai Writing System," by Rena Crook, Leanne Hinton, and Nancy Stenson; (2) "The Upland Yuman Numeral System," by Martha B. Kendall;…

One in a series of ten mini-manuals on office communication proofreading, this booklet for business and office students provides instruction in subject-verb agreement. Included are terminal and specific objectives, related grammar rules and definitions, and tasks for practice. A test over the information presented concludes the manual. (Test…

The descriptive contents (cognitive meanings) of the modals "can,""may,""could,""might,""must,""need,""ought,""should," compared with paraphrastic verbs and adjectives, motivate two cross-classifying dimensions: logical modality (possibility, impossibility, necessity)…

This supplementary volume to "Albanian: Basic Course" is divided into two sections. The first is a summary of Albanian verb forms (tense and mood) and their use. The second section consists of a set of paradigms for the conjugation of regular and irregular Albanian verbs. (JB)

Discursive functions are seldom expressed in an absolutely neutral way. In most cases, various colorings - expressive, affective or social - are superimposed on the utterance by which a function is conveyed. In so far as these colorings are not random shades, but can be regarded as graded nuances within given ranges, selected in order to fit the…

This paper points out the irrelevance of the sentence-based grammatical explanations found in most grammar reference books and ESL textbooks with regard to answering questions such as: (1) when and why do native speakers of English use the passive rather than the active voice, and (2) when and why does the native speaker of English use the present…

This summary gathers together for easy reference the inflected forms of Literary Sinhala together with a transliteration guide to the writing system. This work differs, therefore, from the authors' previous work, "Literary Sinhala" (1974), which presented the inflected forms in a pedagogical sequence. In this summary, the inflected forms…

Differences between the English and Ukrainian verbal forms, meaning, and usage are studied in this booklet. While the author illustrates significant distinctions in basic forms, sentences, and in paragraph structure, he concludes that the most important differences between both systems are of a psychological nature. Examples are cited, often using…

This paper is based on an investigation of an increasing tendency in modern German to use the second person singular imperative without the suffix "e." All major works on German grammar, including the standard reference books on the subject, require this suffix for all weak and most strong verbs. (Those verbs which change their stem vowel from "e"…

Presented is a set of 23 picture cards to teach English verbs to Eskimo and American Indian children in Alasks's Bureau of Indian Affairs' schools. The cards attempt to help the teacher aid students in achieving oral mastery of the English verb system. The cards are for a learning situation where the teacher has decided to attack a specific…

The effects of three variables on the difficulty of verbal arithmetic problems were examined. Variables included problem form, sequence of information, and problem verb. A total of 32 problems was generated, four in each of four problem forms and two sequences of information. Vocabulary words were not above second-grade level, and numbers used…

This paper raises the question of the relationship between Russian verbs of motion and verbal aspect, and presents a discussion concerning the typology of motion verbs with respect to aspect. After establishing terminology and presenting the corpus of verbs considered to be verbs of motion, the authors discuss the traditional criteria for…