Search

The permutational test of grammaticality employs the notion of a kernel sentence, defined as subject-verb-object-qualifier (SVOQ). The permutational test of grammaticality relies strongly on the presuppositions underlying generative grammar. The protocols were examined to look for judges who had failed to mark any of the SVOQ sentences. The statistical analysis of the results was based on the scores of the remaining 20 judges. With respect to permutations with a high index of disruption, the experiment was not successful in that factors forcing grammatical judgments out of line with predictions made from the index of disruption were not discovered.

Investigates the effect of surface structure complexity, transformational sentence type and sentence length on a sentence imitation task with pre-school children. Similarity of sentence imitation and sentence comprehension; Interaction between Yngve depth and transformational sentence type; Significance of transformation grammar.

Describes the syntactical system as used by two groups of children. Use of sentence transformations; Utilization of auxiliary verb; Maturity in linguistic competence.

Focuses on the effect of question format at time of recall test. Formulation of grammatical rules for questions; Transformation component of the grammar; Basis for expecting a comparable effect for positive questions.