This paper introduces the reader to a brief history of the focus of linguistic method from prehistoric times, through the Classical era, the Middle Ages, to the present. The scientific orientation of linguistic method is exploited; a set of specific principles is found to unify most of today's diverse methods. The success of linguistics is…

This paper provides a brief but broad review of studies in semantics. Particular attention is given to I.A. Richards' analyses of utterances, to value statements which express moral or ethical judgments, and to recent efforts to formulate a logic of contextual implication. J.L. Austin's analysis of performative, or illocutionary, utterances and…

A study by Brown and Fraser (1963) shows that children tend to use telegraphic speech, employing content and omitting function words. This limitation involves the grammatical or semantic complexity of the sentences. Braine (1963) attempted to formulate productive rules for the initial stages in the acquisition of syntax by identifying two classes…

This study investigated social intelligence in relation to individuals coping with other persons. In terms of structure of intellect theory, the first of these two areas includes six behavioral cognition abilities, one for each kind of product or mental construct of information. The second includes six behavioral divergent production abilities,…

When sound takes on meaning for the first time in the life of a child, a giant and prototypic step in the development of his symbolic capacities has taken place. This step is worthy of careful scientific scrutiny. This paper seeks first to describe the steps by which the author's child discovered the existence of meaning in sound, and second, to…

This book on the growth of word meaning in children focuses on the development of the appreciation of the relations that exist among twenty selected words as the individual matures from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. The four preconceptions which determined the experimental tasks, the set of words used, and the methods of analysis…

In attempting to understand and describe the means by which human beings actually produce and interpret the message forms appropriate to a given domain of verbal behavior, it becomes apparent that the cognitive processes involved can reasonably be characterized as information processing phenomena. Throughout the production of a message form, an…

The aim of this collection of Noam Chomsky's writings over the past 12 years is to present the main outlines of transformational theory, using as far as possible Chomsky's own words, but arranged in such a way that a non-specialist will have no difficulty in following the text. The topics covered include syntax, phonology, semantics, and language…

MLISP (meta-LISP) is a high level list-processing and symbol-manipulation language based on the programing language LISP (List Processor). MLISP programs are translated into LISP programs and then executed or compiled. MLISP exists for two purposes: (1) to facilitate the writing and understanding of LISP programs; (2) to remedy certain important…

Presented is a systematic linguistic description of such features as intonation and stress, usually summed up in the phrase "tone of voice." Paying special attention to English, the author has aimed to present as complete a description as possible, and to clarify the theoretical concepts needed to talk precisely about these phenomena. Following…

This grammar deals only with the speech form of Tzotzil currently in use by 65,000 speakers in the area around Huixtan, Chiapas, Mexico. The grammar is framed in terms of a theory which depends upon Pike's hierarchical structures and Lamb's stratificational model. It presents a description of the syntactic component of Tzotzil, with a few…

This paper explains a method of semantic analysis developed in the course of a natural-language research project that led to the computer implementation of the Multistore Parser. Positing an interlinguistic substratum of semantic particles of several different types (e.g. substantive, attributive, developmental, relational), a method is…

A putatively-universal, deep-semantic and -syntactic representation of motion and location is presented. The most characteristic patterns for deriving this representation to the surface in English on the one hand and in Atsugewi (a Hokan Indian language) on the other are then presented and compared. (Author)

The present study analyzes the "ing" forms that follow deictic verbs of movement, including "go,""come,""take,""bring," and "carry." Many examples are given to support the theory that the "ing" forms are not verbs or nouns, but rahter adverbials and that these adverbials are members of a class that refers to activities characterized by certain…

There presently exists an ongoing debate in teacher education concerning the terms "competency-based,""performance-based," and "proficiency-directed." A closer examination of the meanings of these words suggests useful relationships among these terms rather than conflicts. The word "competent" denotes adequacy, suitability, and sufficiency while…