Proposes a four-category classification of semantic structures of one-step word problems involving multiplication and division: forming the n-th multiple of measures, combinatorial multiplication, composition of operators, and multiplication by formula. This classification is compatible with semantic structures of addition and subtraction word…

A study with three- and five-year olds contrasted two important proposals regarding children's assumptions about word meanings: the taxonomic assumption proposal and the shape bias proposal. Results suggest that perceptual similarity, particularly shape similarity, is very important in early word meaning but that children gradually shift their…

A series of experiments involving over 400 college students performing acoustic-lexical decisions during object naming at different stimulus-onset asynchronies show semantic activation of lexical candidates and phonological activation of target items but no phonological activation of other semantically activated items, supporting a two-stage view…

Demonstrates that "already" in Singapore English expresses two aspectual properties, namely the completion or the beginning of an action. The sentence "My son goes to school already" is potentially ambiguous, meaning that my son has already gone to school or that my son now goes to school, having reached the school-going age.…

Samples of the language used by 4 children were recorded longitudinally between 1.5 and 3 years of age. Children's expressions of motion were categorized into expressions involving a source, path, or goal of motion. There were developmental changes, including an increase in the use of words relating to goals as children grew older. (BC)

A review of the literature on children with language disorders characterized by semantic and pragmatic impairments suggests that some of these conditions may stem from the same fundamental cognitive and interpersonal difficulties found in early childhood autism. A summary of recent research and theory in autism is also presented. (Author/DB)

Secondary resultatives exist in Italian and English, where both languages exhibit freedom with PP resultatives but semantic restrictions with AP resultatives (strongly in Italian and weakly in English). This contrast between freedom and restrictions is mirrored in the fact that AP arguments in postobject position as sisters to V are marked in both…

Analysis middle constructions in English, accounting for their key syntactic and semantic properties. The analysis rests on the observation that there are certain similarities between middle, "tough," and recipe-context null-object constructions. (55 references) (VWL)

The role of word class and gender during lexical access in language production was studied. The results indicated a distinction between prelexical (word class) and postlexical (gender) features, a distinction that could most naturally be implemented in a parallel-interactive processing network. (33 references) (Author/LB)

Contrasts symmetrical and asymmetrical features of word order in Mandarin and English, focusing on the preverbal and postverbal positional contrast, and revealing several cognitive sources for similarities between the two languages. (53 references) (CB)

Investigates the semantical aspects of Oceanic language elements that function as directional verbs of motion (e.g., "go,""come,""return"). It is argued that human conceptualization of phenomena (viz. metaphor and metonymy) directly motivate the variety of grammaticalization processes observed with respect to these…

Active/agentive case markings are argued to be the products of successive diachronic developments, each individually motivated. Several factors obscure the motivations, including cross-linguistic differences in detail, shifts of defining features over time, grammaticization, and lexicalization. Explanation of case-systems requires understanding of…

A cohort of nurses and midwives completed a Hoste Grid (semantic differential scale) before and after a course on management of care delivery. Precourse positive expectations were shaken but not destroyed by the experience. Ways to address student fears and improve the evaluation process were identified. (SK)

Outlines a way of conceiving the area of language identified by case or grammatical relation that does not rely on the specification of universal inventory. The alternative proposes the existence of principles of intelligence, which in their operation in language, yield the language performance that is interpreted as ROLES. (Contains 80…

Presents a discourse-functional account of English inversion, based on an examination of a large corpus of naturally occurring tokens. It is argued that inversion serves an information-packaging function and that felicitous inversion depends on the relative discourse-familiarity of the information represented by the preposed and postposed…