Uzbek, a left-branching subject-object-verb language with an extensive agglutinative morphology, must be handled computationally using special algorithms. The merits of various parsing schemes and a cascaded morphology are analyzed, and a functional Uzbek parsing system, based on the Generalized Transition Network parser, is described. (12…

Describes the architecture and functioning of a system developed specifically for text processing applications--such as information retrieval--that can benefit from structural comparisons between elements of text, such as queries and abstracts. The general ways in which the system performs matches and the ways in which this objective influenced…

The fifth in a series of articles comparing modern languages to cultural or practical objects relates Spanish to a grill or grid, rigid and confining. (MSE)

Describes the International Corpus of English Corpus Utility Program (ICECUP), a computer-based text retrieval program designed to search a tagged corpus for words, word elements, and their grammatical roles. Explains the search, display options, concordance, and subcorpus selection features of the ICECUP program. (MDM)

A study of concord phenomena in Rio de Janeiro spoken Portuguese found that, in the serial context, the linguistic system is so highly constrained that external, and even internal, influences are blocked. Authors conclude that strong constraints should be identified and further studies undertaken to understand the interplay of the diverse forces…

Demonstrates how syntactic constraints interact in the interpretation of Verb Phrase inversion. Specifically, it is shown that the auxiliary "be" is unique among auxiliary verbs in allowing VP inversion. (38 references) (VWL)

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…

Reviews problems and advantages of approaches to analysis of vowel length in Standard Scottish English and Scots dialects. It is suggested that insufficient attention has been paid to operation of Scottish Vowel-Length Rule at level 1 of the lexicon, in ablaut past-tense forms, and with noun plural fricative voicing and that consideration of these…

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)

Explains the Greenbergian universals of modifier and adposition ordering as accidental side effects of diachronic derivation. An argument is made that disparate diachronic processes can conspire to give the effect of synchronic universals. For example, the ordering of modifiers may result from their generation by means of binding anaphor strategy.…

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…

The mental models approach is outlined for the following topics: combinatory semantics, anaphora, and inference. The flexibility of the language-processing system is discussed. (18 references) (Author/LB)

This paper demonstrates that language users exploit overspecification both in production and in comprehension of text. Controlled discourse production experiments show that the use of overspecification depends on theme shifts; comprehension studies test the claim that the differential use of anaphoric references correlates with thematic structure…

A series of monitoring studies is reported, in replication of the cross-language research of Cutler, Mehler, Norris, and Segui, which found evidence of language-specific perceptual routines. It is suggested that factors outside the perceptual system may affect responses and that the case for language specificity in perceptual routines has not been…

Outlines the principle teaching methodologies to come out of Great Britain in the last 15 years and their recommendations for teaching literature. Although six different approaches are described, all place emphasis on the importance of linguistics as a tool in appreciating and gaining an in-depth understanding of literature. (LET)