Argues that intonation is best analyzed as an overt marking of the focus structure of a sentence. The linguistic level of f-structure in which both topic and focus are identified provides the link between context, interpretation, syntax, and intonation. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on phrasal prominence in American Sign Language (ASL). Reviews the marking of stress and phrase boundaries in ASL, and discusses prominence assignment at the phrasal level, with brief mention of lexical stress. (Author/VWL)

Explores and describes from a crosslinguistic perspective, some of the major structural irregularities that characterize poetry in Italian Sign Language and distinguish poetic from nonpoetic texts. Reviews findings of previous studies of signed language poetry, and points out issues that need to be clarified to provide a more accurate description…

Samples of formal business reports and business memos were obtained from MBA students in multiple disciplines. The samples were analyzed in terms of their relative cohesion, concreteness of wording, causal relationships, intentional referencing, and readability. A classification function based on these measures was then used to identify entering…

This article focuses on the meaning of nonfinite clauses ("root infinitives") in Dutch and English child language. I present experimental and naturalistic data confirming the claim that Dutch root infinitives are more often modal than English root infinitives. This cross-linguistic difference is significantly smaller than previously assumed,…

The methodology reported in this paper argues for a synthesis of various theories and methods. First, a synopsis is given of the pedagogical and linguistic approaches that should underlie a successful attempt to teach the contrast in two verb tenses in Portuguese. Secondly, a contrast unique to Portuguese is examined and a multistage approach for…

This paper reviews the history of contrastive analysis (CA) against the background of its objectives and its present problems and presents an outline of procedures which seem to be necessary to make the methods meet the objectives of applied CA. CA in the United States was closely connected with structuralism, which was an obvious cause for later…

Background information on the composition curriculum prepared by the English Curriculum Study Center at the University of Georgia is given in this book. Specific subjects covered include the theoretical basis, objectives, and structure of the curriculum in written composition for grades K-6; the contributions of anthropology, sociology, and…

An overview of Noam Chomsky's theories about transformational grammar and phonology is given. Since Chomsky was interested in characterizing what it is to know a language, the ways in which we demonstrate knowledge of our native language are discussed in detail. Particular emphasis is placed on describing how the transformational approach actually…

Following a brief summary of Trubetzkoy's views of Russian word roots, a statistical analysis is performed on a short literary passage in seeking to examine whether all types of roots merely coexist in modern Russian or whether there is an expansion of certain types and a contraction of others. Results point out statistical and semantic…

An appeal for a reappraisal of the role of linguistics and traditional grammar in the secondary school is made in this article. A case is made for a return to traditional grammar in the teaching of English at all levels prior to graduate school. Five writing models with student assignments based on creative imitation illustrate the kind of…

This programed, self-instructional course has the following terminal objectives: (1) to present some notions of the science of linguistics and the major branches of linguistics, (2) to teach the segmental and suprasegmental phonemes of French, (3) to identify the major articulatory problems of French for the native speaker of English, (4) to…

This paper discusses the development of structuralism in psychology, linguistics, mathematics, philosophy, anthropology, and sociology by citing theories supported by thinkers in all these fields. The contrast between structure (schema, pattern, gestalt) and function (activity, interaction, transformation) is used as the point of departure for the…

This study, contrasting grammatical structures in English and Hungarian, considers those areas of grammar in the two languages which would cause the greatest interference for the native English speaker learning Hungarian. The choice of topics is based on the author's personal observation, both of English speakers learning Hungarian and of…

Substantial similarities were found in Filipino college students' healthy personality concepts as elicited by Tagalog and English free-response questionnaires. Some consistent language differences were found across the two methods: greater diversity and refinement of healthy personality concepts were found in Tagalog. (Author/BJV)