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Unlike wh-question questions in Standard Arabic (SA), which received much attention in the past decades in different approaches within generative grammar, question particles (yes-no questions) in SA have not yet been studied thoroughly in minimalist syntax, and less attention has been paid to them. There is a need to analyze SA question articles and explore their syntactic behavior within minimalism. The reason why this topic has been selected for study is that SA question particles have not been investigated in detail yet in Chomsky's Phase Theory; it has not been analyzed how question particles are derived and represented morpho-syntactically in a clause structure. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the morpho-syntax of SA question particles and provide satisfactory answers to the following questions: (i) Do question particles in SA undergo any syntactic movement to [Spec-CP] in the derivation of yes-no questions? If not, why?, (ii) Are question particles based-generated in [Spec-CP]?, and (iii) How can question particles be accounted for neatly in Chomsky's Phase-based Theory? The paper adopts Chomsky's Phase Theory to examine the interaction between the assumptions of this theory and the SA data on question particles. The study findings reveal that, unlike English, question particles in SA do not undergo any syntactic movement while deriving yes-no questions and are assumed to be base-generated in [Spec-CP]. Such question particles are not part of the verb morphology and are merely morphological affixes used as devices to mark interrogativity in the syntax; they do not carry any agreement and tense features that trigger syntactic movement to the clause-initial position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The artificial grammar learning paradigm is a classic method of investigating the influence of universal constraints on shaping learning biases on language acquisition. While this method has been used extensively by linguists to test theoretical claims in generative grammar, one of the most prevalent frameworks in language acquisition, several studies have questioned whether artificial grammar learning reflects language acquisition enough to allow us to use it to draw inferences about the validity of universal constraints, particularly those arising from phonetic naturalness. The current study tests whether artificial grammar learning shows the effect of one robust phonetic naturalness constraint: the restriction on nasal harmony patterns arising from the sonority hierarchy. Nasal harmony is of particular interest because it is one of the few types of harmony that occurs between consonants and vowels, which is an under-researched topic. The results, contrary to the skeptical concerns, showed that participants (n = 120) could learn an artificial grammar involving a natural pattern, but could not learn one corresponding to an arbitrary/phonetically unmotivated pattern in the same way or to the same degree. This study contributes epistemic support to the large body of work using artificial grammar experiments to test phonological operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different analyses of complex cardinal numerals have been proposed in Generative Grammar. This article provides an analysis of these expressions based on the Strong Minimalist Thesis, according to which the derivations of linguistic expressions are generated by a simple combinatorial operation, applying in accord with principles external to the language faculty. The proposed derivations account for the asymmetrical structure of additive and multiplicative complexes and for the instructions they provide to the external systems for their interpretation. They harmonize with those of coordinate nouns, and thus offer a unified Minimalist account of their core properties. Firstly, the empirical problem addressed is stated. Secondly, the theoretical framework is presented. Thirdly, Minimalist derivations for additive and multiplicative complexes are provided. Fourthly, the proposed derivations are contrasted with derivations not relying on the Strong Minimalist Thesis. Lastly, consequences for linguistic theory are identified as well as questions open to further inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a critique of two foundational assumptions of generative work culminating in the Minimalist Program: the assumption that, as a matter of conceptual necessity, language has a ‘double-interface property’ and the related assumption that phonology has a realizational function with respect to syntax-semantics. The issues are broached through a critique of Holmberg's (2000) analysis of Stylistic Fronting in Icelandic. We show that, although empirically motivated, and although based on the double-interface assumption, this analysis is incompatible with that assumption and with the notion of (phonological) realization. Independently of Stylistic Fronting, we argue that the double-interface assumption is a problematic legacy of Saussure's conception of the linguistic sign and that, conceptually, it is neither explanatory nor necessary. The Representational Hypothesis (e.g. Burton-Roberts 2000) develops a Peircian conception of the relation between sound and meaning that breaks with the Saussurian tradition, though in a way consistent with minimalist goals. Other superficially similar approaches (Lexeme—Morpheme Base Morphology, Distributed Morphology, Jackendoff's Parallel Architecture) are discussed; it is argued that they, too, perpetuate aspects of Saussurian thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mainstream generative grammar (MGG), Logical Form (LF) is at the same time a syntactic representation delivered by the grammar and a representation that can be truth-conditionally evaluated. Iacona (2018) argues however that formal logic raises a problem for MGG's intrinsicalist notion of LF: logic requires that the logical form assigned to a sentence should not depend solely on the sentence itself, but also on the logical relations the sentence bears to other propositions in the language, making logicians' logical form dependent on something outside the sentence. This paper argues that LF is also not linguistic enough for linguistics because it is modelled on formal logic rather than on careful analysis of natural language and the natural articulations of linguistic utterances. This leads to a misidentification of the basic linguistic unit, which is not the sentence, and a misanalysis of the sentence's basic structure. The conclusion argues that the only methodologically sound basis for linguistic analysis is not truth, nor the sentence that expresses it, but rather the means that allow the speaker to produce the utterance in the first place, the stable pairings of meaning and sound corresponding to the units that the speaker has stored in memory. • Argues that Logical Form is not logical enough for logic because it does not meet formal logic's requirement that the logical form of a sentence should depend on the relations that it bears to other propositions. • Argues that Logical Form is not linguistic enough for linguistics because it is modelled on formal logic rather than on careful analysis of the natural articulations of linguistic utterances. • Argues that Minimalism is wrong in treating sentences as pairings of sounds with meanings. • Redefines the semantics-progmatics interface as located between notional content that is stably associated with a linguistic sign and notional content that is not. • Argues that the only methodologically sound basis for linguistic analysis is not truth, but rather the stable pairings of meaning and sound corresponding to the linguistic units that the speaker has stored in memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This predicts that extraction from EQs under rogative verbs should yield structural island effects, typically associated with stark unacceptability, whereas extraction from EQs under responsive verbs should yield no structural island effects and should obtain acceptable ratings. Applying this logic to EQs, we make the following predictions: If EQs under rogative verbs are necessarily analyzed as structural islands, extraction from EQs under rogative verbs should be consistently judged unacceptable and we expect to see large island effects. The preponderance of acceptable ratings in both EQ-island conditions suggests that neither EQ is a syntactic island in Spanish, contrary to the analysis in [60], where it was proposed that I ask i -EQs were syntactic islands and I know i -EQs were not. In the non-island conditions (10a), (10c), the embedded structure is a declarative clause, which does not give rise to island effects, whereas in the island conditions (10b), (10d), it is an EQ, expected to yield island effects. If, on the other hand, EQs under rogative verbs are not structural islands we either expect to see (i) no island effects at all, or (ii) smaller island effects characterized by inconsistent judgment distributions. [Extracted from the article]

If there is no adjunction to X', or D' specifically, the second construction cannot involve a Doubly-filled DP. 3.3.2 Option 2: complex Spec,DP In this option, the embedded DP and the indefinite article form a constituent inside the specifier of DP. As such, we could propose that the embedded DP is in Spec,DP, and the indefinite article is in D. Spec-head constellations are often employed to explain cases of adjacency (e.g., the Verb-Second constraint in the Germanic languages). To sum up thus far, I eyner i and I epes i are similar to the possessive pronoun in the second construction: these elements can precede the indefinite article, and they can be separated from it by other words. Focusing on the possessive pronoun, the latter and the indefinite article could form a doubly-filled DP (29a) where the pronoun is in Spec,DP and the article in D. Both of these elements could also form a complex specifier in Spec,DP (29b). Keywords: definiteness; DP-structure; possessives; Yiddish EN definiteness DP-structure possessives Yiddish 347 393 47 03/11/22 20220301 NES 220301 1 Introduction The interpretation of a possessive DP ( I John's book i ) depends on the definiteness of the possessor itself ( I John i ). [Extracted from the article]

Under the P» M model, the generalization is that the glottal stop can only be realized when the stem is monosyllabic (as well as other phonological factors, such as the presence of a lexical glottal stop in the stem and if the stem begins with a cluster or not). The prosodic word in Tlapanec can consist simply of a stem, a stem + an affix, or possibly stem + stem compounds. Recall that the alternation was between the allomorphs I gita i - and I gi - i , the former occurring with disyllabic stems, while the latter with monosyllabic stems; with the latter, the glottal stop is deleted before a stem-initial consonant cluster or when the stem contains a glottal stop. (44) HT

In Technology and the Lifeworld (1990), Don Ihde advances what he calls "formalisms" for the ways in which we experience or relate to technology. In this article, I seek to clarify the grammar of Ihde's formalisms. Ihde's formalisms have not been the focus of scrutiny. Rather, they have largely been received in the literature as merely aphoristic or epigrammatical devices serving to clarify what can be explained in prose. My hypothesis is that Ihde's formalisms do not merely serve an epigrammatical function but rather admit of a generative grammar that extends his postphenomenological framework. I propose a notation that adheres to six rules of syntax that can be derived from Ihde's framework. I show that the proposed notation makes explicit the inter-relations among hidden dimensions of human–technology relations. Relying on my notation, I also suggest that the so-called cyborg turn is actually a turn away from the unharnessed syntax of Ihde's formalisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insertion systems or insertion grammars are a generative formalism in which words can only be generated by starting with some axioms and by iteratively inserting strings subject to certain contexts of a fixed maximal length. It is known that languages generated by such systems are always context sensitive and that the corresponding language classes are incomparable with the regular languages. On the other hand, it is possible to generate non-semilinear languages with systems having contexts of length two. Here, we study decidability questions for insertion systems. On the one hand, it can be seen that emptiness and universality are decidable. Moreover, the fixed membership problem is solvable in deterministic polynomial time. On the other hand, the usually studied decidability questions such as, for example, finiteness, inclusion, equivalence, regularity, inclusion in a regular language, and inclusion of a regular language turn out to be undecidable. Interestingly, the latter undecidability results can be carried over to other models which are basically able to handle the mechanism of inserting strings depending on contexts. In particular, new undecidability results are obtained for pure grammars, restarting automata, clearing restarting automata, and forgetting automata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to clarify certain features of the systematicity arguments by a review of some of the largely underexamined background in Chomsky's and Fodor's early work on transformational grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term Chomskyan revolution, referring to the innovative current in modern American linguistics and Noam Chomsky as it's leading figure, permeated the metaphorical imagery of the popular linguistic and socio-cultural spheres in the USA. This term actually surpassed specialized linguistic circles, where it designated Chomsky's transformational-generative grammar model and normally appeared in quotation marks. However, although Chomskyan revolution came to occupy a central position in the American network of unquestioned cultural mythologemes, its Bulgarian reception was different. The overall impression in Bulgarian linguistic and socio-cultural circles regarding the revolutionary leap has been rather skeptical and reserved, although the Chomskyan grammar model itself has been introduced into research practice. Such a difference in attitudes towards the status of transformationalgenerative grammar in the source and a target country is discussed here in terms of motivations and basic positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an overview of zero derivation in Old English, a description of the vocalic alternations that hold between zero derived nouns, adjectives and weak verbs and their bases of derivation as well as an account of the significance of alternations in the wider context of the evolution of the lexicon of English. Alternations are quantified and related to i-mutation and word-formation processes by distinguishing direct from reverse alternations and alternations with a strong verb source from alternations with a weak verb target. The conclusions reflect the synchronic-diachronic character of alternations. On the synchronic axis, alternations represent a relatively generalised phenomenon that affects all classes of both strong and weak verbs, while, on the diachronic axis, they allow us to assess the progress of the change from variable to invariable base morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One important aspect of the faculty of language, as understood in generative grammar, is its capacity to form operator-variable structures. Such structures are crucial for definite descriptions, as understood in the broadly Russellian tradition. The paper proposes a research program for exploring the relation between the uniquely human ability for "knowledge" (more properly, cognition) by description and the capacity of the language faculty to produce operator- variable structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider d -dimensional contextual array grammars and investigate their computational power when using various control mechanisms – matrices, regular control languages, and tissue P systems, which work like regular control languages, but may end up with a final check for the non-applicability of some rules. For d ≥ 2 , d -dimensional contextual array grammars are less powerful than matrix contextual array grammars, which themselves are less powerful than contextual array grammars with regular control languages. The use of tissue P systems with their final non-applicability check even yields some additional computational power. In the 1-dimensional case, the family of 1-dimensional array languages generated by contextual array grammars with regular control languages can be characterized as the family of array images of the linear languages, which for a one-letter alphabet means that it coincides with the family of regular 1-dimensional array languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grammars with valuations are context-free rewriting mechanisms where the derivation process is controlled by a recursive function that evaluates strings. They have been introduced by Jürgen Dassow as models for the molecular replication process taking into account its selective character. A symbol is active in a grammar with valuation if it can be rewritten non-identically. This paper studies the effect of restricting the number of active symbols in grammars with valuations and several variants thereof to their generative power. It is investigated in which cases the number of active symbols induces infinite strict hierarchies and when the hierarchies collapse. The induced language families are compared among one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language and action have been found to share a common neural basis and in particular a common 'syntax', an analogous hierarchical and compositional organization. While language structure analysis has led to the formulation of different grammatical formalisms and associated discriminative or generative computational models, the structure of action is still elusive and so are the related computational models. However, structuring action has important implications on action learning and generalization, in both human cognition research and computation. In this study, we present a biologically inspired generative grammar of action, which employs the structure-building operations and principles of Chomsky's Minimalist Programme as a reference model. In this grammar, action terminals combine hierarchically into temporal sequences of actions of increasing complexity; the actions are bound with the involved tools and affected objects and are governed by certain goals. We show, how the tool role and the affected-object role of an entity within an action drives the derivation of the action syntax in this grammar and controls recursion, merge and move, the latter being mechanisms that manifest themselves not only in human language, but in human action too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, computer-assisted writing techniques for linear expressions of the structure of polycyclic molecules, branched molecules and clusters, based on formal languages, are tested. The techniques used only require the ability to process written texts, even just using a text editor, and one of the many available molecular drawing/optimization programs that accept input in the form of a SMILES string. A few specific syntactic operators acting on strings are characterized in terms of their effect on the corresponding structure, and although they are simply examples, they are already capable of producing non-trivial structures. The aim of this work is to encourage experiments that may lead to potentially interesting molecular schemata, in view of their symmetry and stereochemistry, as revealed by optimization, and to develop insight into the connection between formal expressions and structures. Given the simplicity and availability of the required tools, it can also be useful for education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the role of Evert Beth in the introduction of generative grammar in the Netherlands. Evert Beth is a professor of Logic at the University of Amsterdam who presented a paper in establishing generative grammar. The author examines how Beth became involved in linguistics and became a major proponent of generative grammar and the arguments against Anton Reichling's criticism of Chomsky. The exchange of letters between Beth and Reichling about the latter's criticism of Chomsky are also investigated.

Although there is a broad consensus that both the procedural and declarative memory systems play a crucial role in language learning, use, and knowledge, the mapping between linguistic types and memory structures remains underspecified: by default, a dual‐route mapping of language systems to memory systems is assumed, with declarative memory handling idiosyncratic lexical knowledge and procedural memory handling rule‐governed knowledge of grammar. We experimentally contrast the processing of morphology (case and aspect), syntax (subordination), and lexical semantics (collocations) in a healthy L1 population of Polish, a language rich in form distinctions. We study the processing of these four types under two conditions: a single task condition in which the grammaticality of stimuli was judged and a concurrent task condition in which grammaticality judgments were combined with a digit span task. Dividing attention impedes access to declarative memory while leaving procedural memory unaffected and hence constitutes a test that dissociates which types of linguistic information each long‐term memory construct subserves. Our findings confirm the existence of a distinction between lexicon and grammar as a generative, dual‐route model would predict, but the distinction is graded, as usage‐based models assume: the hypothesized grammar–lexicon opposition appears as a continuum on which grammatical phenomena can be placed as being more or less "ruly" or "idiosyncratic." However, usage‐based models, too, need adjusting as not all types of linguistic knowledge are proceduralized to the same extent. This move away from a simple dichotomy fundamentally changes how we think about memory for language, and hence how we design and interpret behavioral and neuroimaging studies that probe into the nature of language cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competence-based theories of island effects play a central role in generative grammar, yet the graded nature of many syntactic islands has never been properly accounted for. Categorical syntactic accounts of island effects have persisted in spite of a wealth of data suggesting that island effects are not categorical in nature and that nonstructural manipulations that leave island structures intact can radically alter judgments of island violations. We argue here, building on work by Paul Deane, Robert Kluender, and others, that processing factors have the potential to account for this otherwise unexplained variation in acceptability judgments. We report the results of self-paced reading experiments and controlled acceptability studies that explore the relationship between processing costs and judgments of acceptability. In each of the three self-paced reading studies, the data indicate that the processing cost of different types of island violations can be significantly reduced to a degree comparable to that of nonisland filler-gap constructions by manipulating a single nonstructuraI factor. Moreover, this reduction in processing cost is accompanied by significant improvements in acceptability. This evidence favors the hypothesis that island-violating constructions involve numerous processing pressures that aggregate to drive processing difficulty above a threshold, resulting in unacceptability. We examine the implications of these findings for the grammar of filler-gap dependencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This two-part article critically reviews eight recent works in the field of mood and modality. Part I explores three different theoretical approaches – generative, cognitive–pragmatic, and typological – with the main focus on languages other than English. Within the framework of generative grammar, research issues include: the epistemic-root interpretations of modal verbs; transitive–intransitive (dyadic–monadic) alternations; modal verb complementation, and the interaction of the modals with other systems, including negation, and alternate ways of encoding modality. The cognitive–pragmatic approach hones in on epistemic modality, and focuses on the cognitive mechanisms that become activated once speakers express evaluations of given states of affairs, involving various modal expression types. Reflecting mounting interest in grammatical typology as a whole, typological approaches to modality recognize this domain as a valid cross-language grammatical category, similar to tense and aspect, and establish a range of typological categories, which include propositional modality (epistemic and evidential) and event modality (deontic and dynamic). Part I also includes a descriptive account of the modal verb system in Danish. In Part II, the emphasis is on work in relation to (primarily) English, much of which is corpus-driven, and on non-verbal as well as verbal carriers of modal meanings. Thus, description and analysis move purposefully towards a more comprehensive account of the field, to embrace modal expressions such as modal lexical verbs, modal adverbs, and modal adjectives. The pragmatics of modality; the discursive functions of modal expressions, especially modal adverbs; and the treatment of modality in modern descriptive grammars of English are also covered. The article reflects mounting interest in recent years in modality studies. Whilst broadening the scope of modality studies to include treatment of non-verbal modal expressions is to be welcomed, comparatively little attention has so far been given to how different types of modal expression may combine in text to create modal synergy. Following a case study investigation into pragmatics and modality in Part II, the paper outlines an agenda for further research within a discourse and pragmatic perspective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Antarctica is surrounded by a variety of large, medium and small sized ice shelves, glacier tongues and coastal areas without offshore floating ice masses. We used the mosaic of the Radarsat-1 Antarctica Mapping Project (RAMP) Antarctic Mapping Mission 1 (AMM) to classify the coastline of Antarctica in terms of surface structure patterns close to the calving front. With the aid of an automated edge detection method, complemented by manual control, the surface structures of all ice shelves and glacier tongues around Antarctica were mapped. We found dense and less dense patterns of surface structures unevenly distributed over the ice shelves and ice tongues. Dense surface patterns are frequent on fast flowing ice masses (ice streams), whereas most ice shelves show a dense surface pattern only close to the grounding line. Flow line analyses on ten ice shelves reveal that the time of residence of the ice along a flow path and-associated with it-the healing of surface crevasses can explain the different surface structure distribution close to the grounding line and the calving front on many ice shelves. Based on the surface structures relative to the calving front within a 15 km-wide seaward strip, the ice shelf fronts can be separated into three classes. The resulting map of the classified calving fronts around Antarctica and their description provide a detailed picture of crevasse formation and the observed dominant iceberg shapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major goal of bio-inspired artificial intelligence is to design artificial neural networks with abilities that resemble those of animal nervous systems. It is commonly believed that two keys for evolving nature-like artificial neural networks are (1) the developmental process that links genes to nervous systems, which enables the evolution of large, regular neural networks, and (2) synaptic plasticity, which allows neural networks to change during their lifetime. So far, these two topics have been mainly studied separately. The present paper shows that they are actually deeply connected. Using a simple operant conditioning task and a classic evolutionary algorithm, we compare three ways to encode plastic neural networks: a direct encoding, a developmental encoding inspired by computational neuroscience models, and a developmental encoding inspired by morphogen gradients (similar to HyperNEAT). Our results suggest that using a developmental encoding could improve the learning abilities of evolved, plastic neural networks. Complementary experiments reveal that this result is likely the consequence of the bias of developmental encodings towards regular structures: (1) in our experimental setup, encodings that tend to produce more regular networks yield networks with better general learning abilities; (2) whatever the encoding is, networks that are the more regular are statistically those that have the best learning abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Networks of evolutionary processors (NEPs) are distributed word rewriting systems typically viewed as language generators. Each node contains a set of words, a set of operations (typically insertion, deletion or rewriting of one symbol with another one), an input filter and an output filter. The purpose of this paper is to overview existing models of NEPs, their variants and develop-ments. In particular, besides the basic model, hybrid networks of evolutionary processors (HNEPs) have been extensively studied. In HNEPs, operations application might be restricted to specific end of the string, but the filters are random-context conditions (they were regular in the basic model). We will also cover the literature on the so-called obligatory HNEPs, i.e., ones where the operations are obligatory: the string that cannot be rewritten is not preserved. Some specific aspects that we pay attention to are: computational universality and completeness, the topology of the underflying graph, the number of nodes, the power of filters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes an approach to Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG) generation that is based on the fact that the set of strings that an LFG grammar relates to a particular acyclic f-structure is a context-free language. We present an algorithm that produces for an arbitrary LFG grammar and an arbitrary acyclic input f-structure a context-free grammar describing exactly the set of strings that the given LFG grammar associates with that f-structure. The individual sentences are then available through a standard context-free generator operating on that grammar. The context-free grammar is constructed by specializing the context-free backbone of the LFG grammar for the given f-structure and serves as a compact representation of all generation results that the LFG grammar assigns to the input. This approach extends to other grammatical formalisms with explicit context-free backbones, such as PATR, and also to formalisms that permit a context-free skeleton to be extracted from richer specifications. It provides a general mathematical framework for understanding and improving the operation of a family of chart-based generation algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1965, I became a student of Dutch and general linguistics at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. The rise of generative grammar played an important role in this change of perspective within Dutch linguistics. Word formation rules, as conceived of and discussed in that monograph, are incompatible with generative grammar or with any grammar-based linguistic framework, because, like the tradition they encode, these rules cross the synchronic-diachronic boundary that is central to all post-Saussurean structural linguistics. The Dutch tradition of morphology before the rise of generative grammar in the 1960s had a different focus, even though it also wanted to account for the word-forming creativity of the language user. [Extracted from the article]

Most familiar syntactic frameworks recognize the category 'phrase', and are built around phrase structure relationships. However, the Word Grammar dependency model does not acknowledge the category 'phrase' as a primitive in the grammar; instead, all relationships are word-based, with phrases having no syntactic status. Here, I investigate the theoretical validity of the notion 'phrase' by examining the phenomenon in Welsh known as syntactic soft mutation, contrasting a phrase-based account with a dependency account. I conclude that an empirically adequate analysis of syntactic soft mutation must make reference to phrases as a category, thus ruling out the dependency account. A further theoretical question concerns the role played in the grammar by syntactically present but phonetically unrealized elements, including empty categories such as wh-traces and unrealized material in ellipsis. Syntactic soft mutation proves an interesting testing ground in these contexts, but the data again fail to support the dependency account. The conclusion is that a phrase-based account of the mutation is better motivated and empirically more accurate than the alternative dependency account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1973, V. Virkkunen proved that propagating scattered context grammars which use leftmost derivations are as powerful as context-sensitive grammars. This paper brings a significantly simplified proof of this result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cappelen & Lepore (2005, 2006a, 2007) note that linguistic communication requires 'shared content' and claim that Relevance Theory makes content sharing impossible. This criticism rests upon two important errors. The first is a flawed understanding of Relevance Theory, shown in the application of an omniscient third party perspective to parts of Relevance Theory that depend only upon subjective judgements made by the addressee of an utterance. The second is confusion about different definitions of content. Cappelen & Lepore's evidence actually involves the communication of what they term Speech Act content, which need not be perfectly 'shared' according to their own position. Looking beyond this flawed criticism, a general comparison of Relevance Theory with Cappelen & Lepore's semantic minimalism reveals significant parallels, pointing to a notable convergence of two distinct approaches - one cognitive-pragmatic, the other philosophical-semantic - on the rejection of currently dominant assumptions in linguistic semantics. The key remaining difference is Cappelen & Lepore's claim that shared content is propositional. This contradicts other claims made for such content and in any case plays no active role in the explanation of communication. Cappelen & Lepore's position thus poses no threat to Relevance Theory; rather, Relevance Theory can benefit from their philosophical analysis of the state of semantic theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We define an operation called transposition on words of fixed length. This operation arises naturally when the letters of a word are considered as entries of a matrix. Words that are invariant with respect to transposition are of special interest. It turns out that transposition invariant words have a simple interpretation by means of elementary group theory. This leads us to investigate some properties of the ring of integers modulo and primitive roots. In particular, we show that there are infinitely many prime numbers with a primitive root dividing and infinitely many prime numbers without a primitive root dividing . We also consider the orbit of a word under transposition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We estimate the extremal letter frequency in infinite words over a finite alphabet avoiding some repetitions. For ternary square-free words, we improve the bounds of Tarannikov on the minimal letter frequency, and prove that the maximal letter frequency is . Kolpakov et al. have studied the function such that is the minimal letter frequency in an infinite binary -free word. In particular, they have shown that is discontinuous at and at every integer at least 3. We answer one of their questions by providing some other points of discontinuity for . Finally, we propose stronger versions of Dejean’s conjecture on repetition threshold in which unequal letter frequencies are required. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study is a cross-linguistic investigation of the nominal expressions used to introduce, re-introduce and maintain reference to animate characters in the Frog Story in English and Italian. Narratives were collected in both languages from a group of twelve simultaneous English-Italian eight-year-old bilinguals, and from two groups of age-matched English-speaking and Italian-speaking monolingual children. Overall the bilingual children used language-specific referring expressions in each of their languages. Similarly to the monolingual children the bilinguals predominantly used noun phrases to introduce new referents and to re-introduce old referents. More interestingly, the bilingual children were able to use overt and null pronominals in language-specific ways. Pronominal forms were used significantly more often in English to re-introduce and maintain reference, while in Italian null pronouns were significantly more frequent than in English in these two contexts. The only significant difference between the two groups was found in referent maintenance in object position in Italian where the bilingual children used a significantly larger proportion of noun phrases. These results show that simultaneous bilingual children can achieve a high degree of language-specific discourse-pragmatic competence in both of their languages, although there may be predictable areas in which their performance differs from their peers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In parasitic gap constructions an illicit gap inside a syntactic island becomes acceptable in combination with an additional licit gap, a result that has interesting implications for theories of grammar. Such constructions hold even greater interest for the question of the relation between grammatical knowledge and real time language processing. This article presents results from two experiments on parasitic-gap constructions in English in which the parasitic gap appears inside a subject island, before the licensing gap. An off-line study confirms that parasitic gaps are acceptable when they occur inside the infinitival complement of a subject NP, but not when they occur inside a finite relative clause. An on-line self-paced reading study using a plausibility manipulation technique shows that incremental positing of gaps inside islands occurs in just those environments where parasitic gaps are acceptable. The fact that parasitic gaps are constructed incrementally in language processing presents a challenge for attempts to explain subject islands as epiphenomena of constraints on language processing and also helps to resolve apparent conflicts in previous studies of the role of island constraints in parsing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental problem in spoken language is the duality between the continuous aspects of phonetic performance and the discrete aspects of phonological competence. We study 2 instances of this problem from the phenomenon of voicing neutralization and vowel harmony. In each case, we present a model where the experimentally observed continuous distinctions are linked to the discreteness of phonological form using the mathematics of nonlinear dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how the parser employs thematic and contextual information in resolving temporary ambiguities during sentence processing. We report results from a sentence-completion task and from a self-paced reading experiment with native speakers of Greek examining two constructions under different referential context conditions: relative clauses (RCs) preceded by complex noun phrases with genitives, [NP1 +NP2Gen], and RCs preceded by complex noun phrases containing prepositional phrases, [NP1 + PP[P NP2]]. We found different attachment preferences for these two constructions, a high (NP1) preference for RCs with genitive antecedents and a low (NP2) preference for RCs with PP antecedents. Moreover, referential context information was found to modulate RC attachment differently in the two experimental tasks. We interpret these findings from the perspective of modular theories of sentence processing and argue that on-line ambiguity resolution relies primarily on grammatical and lexical-thematic information, and makes use of referential context information only as a secondary resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author presents his comments to critiques about the article "Grammar is grammar and usage is usage." Critiques recognizes that one possible objection to stochastic grammar is by mixing data from different individuals together in a large data set, evidence relevant to the investigation of the mental grammar of particular individuals is potentially obscured. But he then dismisses the importance of the objection. Critiques goes on to argue, that stochastic grammar is supported by the fact that phenomena that are categorial in some languages are simply a matter of statistical preference in others. So, the person of the subject argument cannot be lower than the person of a no subject argument. A consequence is that one never finds first or second person subjects of passives in that language where the agent is in the third person. In English, as it turns out, similar passives are possible, but very rare compared to passives with, say, third person subjects. As they note, a traditional generative model would ascribe the Lummi facts to competence and the English facts to performance. They see this as a lost generalization. In their view, only a model of grammar allowing stochastic constraints can unite the facts in the two languages, assigning them two different points along the same continuum with respect to relations involving grammatical person.

The article discusses multi level Optimality Theory (OT) and the ways of dealing with stages in phonological processing. OT should aim at ways to incorporate multiple levels of phonological processing, rather than focus on retaining the single evaluation hypothesis. In an OT approach, the constraints responsible for preferred syllable content are active only at pre-phonetic levels of evaluation, whereas a constraint on segmental markedness, saying that consonants should be as consonantal as possible and therefore nonsonorant is active at the pre-phonetic, as well as at the phonetic level. The tools of OT seem particularly suited to give a representation of the conflict between markedness constraints with opposing output goals Aphasia, in this approach, comprises the lowering of faithfulness constraints at the affected level of processing. Language breakdown provides a window on the workings of the language system and linguistic theories should be able to deal with the view thus offered.

The article discusses several generative theories and approaches to syntax. Studies of syntax has a uniform goal of understanding the principles behind the organization of sentences but differences in syntacticians' philosophy, individual specific aims and methods arise. Syntax approaches includes government-binding theory, generalized phrase structure grammar, lexical-functional grammar and relational grammar. Similar ideologies and methods shared by these approaches which concerns syntactic structure were also explored.