Inverted sentence order (order other than subject-verb-object) may be used to mimic the rhythm of real dialogue; give the play-by-play announcer time to come up with the player's name; indicate the relative importance of the subject, verb, and object; distribute information; and indicate connection with prior information. As a stylistic option,…

TWO ASPECT MARKERS IN MANDARIN CHINESE ARE STUDIED WITHIN THE GENERAL FRAMEWORK OF A TRANSFORMATIONAL GRAMMAR. THEY ARE COMMONLY REPRESENTED AS "-LE," INDICATING COMPLETION OF ACTION, AND "-GUO," INDICATING THAT AN ACTION HAS TAKEN PLACE AT LEAST ONCE. THE PROBLEM INVOLVES SEVERAL SEEMING IRREGULARITIES IN THE FORMATION OF…

The authors present for the undergraduate and graduate linguistics student a transformational approach to the study of English grammar. Their discussion begins with a description of the structure of sentences, outlined according to the transformational grammarian's framework of linguistic universals. This set of principles "makes possible the…

This paper examines, within the framework of case grammar, the alternant relationship that holds between the simplex in (1) "The thought frightened me" and (2) "The thought made me frightened," and between the simplex in (3) "John trembled with fear" and (4) "Fear made John tremble." It is shown that while…

THE PROBLEM OF THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE STRUCTURE IS CONSIDERED AND THE FORM WHICH ANY LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION SHOULD TAKE. THE AUTHOR EXAMINES THE INFLUENCE OF THE SWISS LINGUIST, FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE, ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS. THE QUESTION OF "MENTALISM" IN LINGUISTICS IS REDUCED TO THE PROBLEM OF WHETHER LINGUISTIC…

Proposes the necessity of abandoning the point of view of structural linguistics for the notions of modern linguistics in order to describe Latin case. An example is made of the ablative case. (AM)

Analyzes "possessive" reflexives in French, within the framework of a generative grammar approach. A list of examples is appended. (AM)

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)

Examines the loss of the impersonal construction in modern English and proposes an explanation based on the psychological evolution of the concept of "person." (Author/AM)

The article asserts that case-endings in conversational Latin were consciously learned by children in Roman times, and that the endings were so necessary for comprehension that ancient architects constructed theaters with outstanding acoustics. (SW)

A procedure for learning German relative pronouns is presented to assist teachers of American students who have difficulty differentiating genders and cases. (SW)

Cites problems in the current method of teaching the subjunctive to English-speaking students of Italian. The ineffectiveness of associating the indicative mode with reality and the subjunctive mode with possibility is discussed. Psychological explanations, not grammatical ones, are presented to explain this use. (CFM)

Presents data that suggest that three factors--social variables, speech register, and linguistic variables--influence the choice of grammatical structure in Brazilian Portuguese where options exist to express the same idea. Examines the range of options used in responses that indicate general patterns of linguistic structures related to particular…

Discusses the problems and confusion encountered by beginning students of French, learning the passe composee vs. the imperfect tense. Referring to the grammatical narrative, it is suggested that explanations which take into consideration text, context, or discourse--real world situations--can give helpful insights into the different tense uses.…

Presents a classification of French "-ment" adverbs based on syntactical criteria. The major divisions, consisting of "sentence adverbs" and "adverbs of manner," are further sub-divided into functional sub-groups. (Text is in French.) Available from: Akademisk Forlag, St. Kannikestraede 6-8, DK-1169 Copenhague K Danemark. (AM)