The experiments reported here confirmed the findings of earlier researchers that transitive verbs are more difficult to recall than intransitive ones and furthermore established a close relationship between transitive verbs and nouns. Implications for linguistic theory are discussed. (FB)

Demonstrates that the Spanish verb estar, which occurs in all stative sentences, is semantically distinct from ser" in having a contrastive semantic content, state," whereas the verb ser" is a true copula, having no semantic load and existing in the sentence as a mere inflection holder." (FWB)

Supplements Hans Basboll's state-of-the-art report on generative phonology (EJ 227 659), focusing on "abstract" v "concrete" approaches to surface data. Includes a summary of a discussion on phonology. (RL)

Defends the idea that language is a unique, genetically underwritten "module of the mind" and considers consequences such a stance holds for the psycholinguistic study of nonnative language acquisition. Supports the position that language, as conceived within the tradition of generative grammar, is unlike other types of cognition and its basis is…

Discusses Chomsky's linguistic theories and suggests that these theories have clear implications for politics, philosophy, and psychology. (five references) (JL)

In this study, errors in the English writing of students in the College of World Englishes at Chukyo University, Japan are examined to determine if there is a level of acceptance among teachers. If there is, are these errors becoming part of an accepted, standardized Japanese English Results show there is little acceptance of third person…

In three structural priming experiments, we investigated temporarily ambiguous sentences such as "While the man was visiting the children who were surprisingly pleasant and funny played outside." Participants produced more transitive sentences following such temporarily ambiguous sentences than following unambiguous sentences that were…

Noam Chomsky's transformational-generative grammar model may effectively be translated into an equivalent computer model. Phrase-structure rules and transformations are tested as to their validity and ordering by the computer via the process of random lexical substitution. Errors appearing in the grammar are detected and rectified, and formal…

This is a tongue-in-cheek rendering of an imaginary linguist's attempt to prove that a grammatical rule is not in fact optional, but conditioned. Through manipulation of the data, use of computers, etc., he succeeds in "proving" this. He also "proves" that this conditioning is contextual; that the rule which exhibits it is…

Samples of written language were collected from 140 congenitally deaf children at grade levels 3, 5, 7, and 9. The samples were then subjected to error, quantitative, and transformational analysis. Findings suggested a relationship between the order in which the deaf child acquires the rules of his language and the ordering of rules in a…

This paper discusses the validity and role of linguistic theory in terms of philosophy and logic and considers the relationship among these fields of human knowledge. The main objective of linguistic science is to discover the composition laws actually used by speech communities at any given moment in history. Linguistics is therefore not…

The eight papers in this issue are addressed to issues in pragmatics, semantics, syntax, discourse analysis, morphology, and particularly to issues touching on two or more of these areas at once. The final paper touches on phonology as well. The papers are: "The Myth of Semantic Presupposition," by Steven Boer and William Lycan; "A…

REPORTED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS AN EXPERIMENT TO DETERMINE THE DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY IN LEARNING AND USING "ENGLISH GRAMMAR II," A TRANSFORMATIONALLY GENERATED SUBSET OF ENGLISH (SEE AL 001 306). THE AUTHOR PRESENTS A GENERAL, NON-TECHNICAL EXPLANATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF TRANSFORMATIONAL GRAMMAR AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE EXPERIMENT IN LEARNING TO USE…

There is a set of difficult Spanish grammar questions (ser-estar, preterite-imperfect, subjunctive-indicative, word order, and prepositions) in which the description of the semantic component is essential. Even though generative formulations treat them in differing ways, these questions possess the common characteristic of associating a form…

Articles represent four schools of thought in the field of linguistics: structural, behavioral, transformational, and tagmemic. Summarizing structural linguistics before 1956, John Lotz emphasizes the importance of spoken language and the "internal order" imposed upon "physical and behavioral phenomena," and indicates some of the basic beliefs of…