This paper aims to account for what at first appears to be a unique constraint in the formation of A-not-A questions. Most previous analyses employ the pragmatic notion of focus. This paper argues in favor of a presuppositional account, which has wide empirical coverage and is independently motivated and more theoretically coherent than the notion…

The goal of this study is to understand the ways in which humans apply relevant modules of knowledge of language to an input sentence in a parsing process. To this end, quantifier float constructions in Japanese are analyzed, as a case study, on the basis of the view that the output in parsing comprises discrete and multiple categories. Then, a…

An analysis of correlative constructions in Chinese that: (1) gives a principled account of the distribution of correlative markers; and (2) offers an explanation for some puzzling facts about distribution of anaphoric pronouns is presented. It is suggested that previous research has misidentified instances of verb phrase coordination as…

A study of discourse anaphora, anaphora in discourse that is not controlled syntactically, looks at the three types of such anaphora in Chinese: pronominal, nominal, and zero. The analysis focuses on the type of coreference in which the antecedent and the anaphor occur in clauses that occur adjacent to each other in linear order. In such clauses,…

Taking the form of a fable, this paper presents a discussion of the English language from the point of view of someone totally unknowing of its requirements. In the paper, an increasingly large cast of personified parts of speech make repeated visits to the "G. and P. (Good and Proper) Grammar Store." Sections of the paper discuss: nouns…

An analysis of Kilega, a Bantu language spoken in eastern Zaire, focuses on the relative positions of subject and verb and agreement patterns, with particular attention to WH-movement. It is found that Kilega is a subject-verb-object language, but exhibits some variant patterns. WH-movement triggers verb-subject inversion and shifts agreement. The…

This paper examines the role of movable adverbs in Mandarin Chinese. In terms of their position within a sentence, most Mandarin adverbs can be classified as movable or non-movable. While identification of either class may be based on their semantic categories or on the number of syllables, the motivation for placing a movable adverb in front of…

In language use, redundant linguistic items are reduced in size, replaced with a proform or left out. This paper examines the nature of the processes involved and the conditions under which they operate. (CHK)

Seven basic sentence constructions are presented as essentials for students progressing from beginning to advanced Japanese: equational existential, active verbal, stative verbal, sentential modifier, subordinate complex, coordinate compound. The constructions should be introduced at beginning levels, and the logical properties they share with…

Clitics are explained through the interplay of different levels of language in performance. It is shown that clitic movement can be blocked on phonological ground, and accusative marked by "shwa" follows, rather than precedes, a clitic segment containing a back vowel--"vous le" or "nous le". (SCC)

The following three levels of intonation are described, and their relationship is discussed: 1) a concrete and atomistic level of the perceptually relevant pitch movements, 2) a concrete and global level of the audible pitch contours and the measurable fundamental frequency curves, and 3) an abstract and global level of intonation patterns.…

Weak forms belong to the realm of sentence phonetics. Syntactic and phonetic conditions for the various appearances of weak forms are discussed. Two examples show how much of a role weak forms have played in FL teaching. Comparisons with English are made. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

Attempts to solve, by means of examples, some of the current problems in predicate raising (PR) in the theory of generative semantics. (Text is in German.) (DS)

Presents a simplified technique for teaching students how to construct sentences using relative pronouns. (RB)

Enumerates, with examples, the rules for the correct use of capital letters in Spanish. (Text is in Spanish.) (DS)