Several hypotheses are developed concerning the semantic-pragmatic shifts that take place in the development of grammatical markers such as prepositions, auxiliary verbs and sentence connectives. Over time, grammatical markers shift from being primarily referential to more pragmatic meanings, from propositional to textual to attitudinal. (PMJ)

This paper presents a method which can be used to obtain evidence that the concepts rated on semantic differential scales are appropriate for given study. An analysis of six semantic differential concepts, as perceived by 168 graduate education students, is presented; variations of the method are discussed. (Author/GSK)

Reports on a 1972 study of nursery school children's racial attitudes compared with those of older children. Children were tested with a semantic differential questionnaire and a social distance scale and were compared across age and race. Concludes that the norm for racial attitudes is a bias for one's own race. (MK)

Presents a study that originated from a sociolinguistic research project in Mexico City during interviews with six to seven year old children from sub-proletarian groups. The study focuses on the inability of the children to distinguish between "preguntar" and "decir" ("to ask" and "to tell"). (MES)

Discusses the difficulty in recognizing and expressing the formation of concession and counter-assertion. Words like "although" and "if," while familiar in other contexts, present problems when used for these functions. While the markers for concession are interchangeable, those for counter-assertion are not. Two different types of…

"Bu" can negate noun phrases. This article attempts to determine what the parent structures are from which noun-bu-noun is derived, to describe the general property of N-bu-N, to examine the conditions under which N-bu-N is used, and to contrast it with other structures of similar usage. (Author/PJM)

Analyzes the purpose of metaphor, distinguishing five different types, proposes terms that describe its components, and lists seven procedures for its translation. It is claimed that metaphor is at the center of all problems of translation theory, semantics, and linguistics. (MES)

A variable time delay naming latency paradigm was used to investigate the processing of noun-verb lexical ambiguities (e.g., "watch") in syntactic contexts that biased either the noun or the verb reading. Results support a two-stage model in which all reading of ambiguous words are initially accessed, followed by suppression of…

A series of three experiments investigated repetition effects on recall with homographic responses. It was concluded that the repetition increment was mediated solely by commonality of surface features and that semantic features played no role. (Author/AM)

Discusses an analysis of grammar that systematizes knowledge about language according to new parameters but continues to view traditional grammar as the backbone of language structure. (NCR)

The nature of the target designation process--which involves forming interassociated mental structures to allow retrieval of individual items of information--was studied. It was shown that visual imagery instructions improved target identification as well as word recognition but did not appear to affect the representational format. (Author/MH)

Results indicated that retarded Ss, relative to normal Ss of all ages, responded particularly slowly to static property statements when objects were animate, and to intrinsic-action properties when objects were inanimate. (Author/DLS)

Presents acronyms and initial-words current in British and American English, explaining their meanings and their underlying unabbreviated versions. (IFS/WGA)

Suggests that argument be seen as a private cognitive phenomenon, in contrast to the more traditional view of argument as a public message-based document. Differences between the views are noted and the respects in which argument creates and depends on cognitive order are discussed. (JMF)

The semantic memory search process was examined in second graders (N=30) under an induced imagery and a control condition. (MP)