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I argue that the debate on the division of labor between grammar and pragmatics, at least as it pertains to pragmatic free enrichment, needs to be better grounded empirically. Often, only a reduced set of facts from English is used to substantiate claims regarding pragmatic free enrichment. But considering a reduced set of facts from a single language can only afford limited (and, sometimes, wrong) results, because we can merely see whatever this one language chooses to express. Two cases studies are presented: adjectival fragments, and implicit indefinite objects. A grammatical analysis is defended for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers several accounts of crosslinguistic variation regarding left branch extraction (LBE), focusing on adjectival LBE, and explores consequences of a proper analysis of LBE for the internal structure of NP. Two lines of research are pursued, both of which are based on the claim that languages that allow adjectival LBE do not have DP. One is based on the phase-based locality system, extending the phase system from clauses to NPs, and the other one is based on the existence of crosslinguistic variation regarding the position of adjectives in the traditional NP, with some languages having the traditional NP-over-AP structure, others having Abney's AP-over-NP structure. Which structure a language has is argued to depend on the presence/absence of DP in the language, the lack of DP leading to the NP-over-AP structure. Under this analysis, the ban on AP LBE in English-type languages follows from the ban on movement of non-constituents, a problem that does not arise in languages that allow AP LBE. The impossibility of LBE of AP in the presence of another AP in languages that in principle allow such extraction is argued to provide evidence that adjectives are located in multiple specifiers of the same head. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which investigated the important characteristics of the Arabic adjectival system. Discussion on adjective classes and their distributions; Explanation on an antisysmmetrical structure of adjectival constructions; Conclusion.

This article reports on an investigation into how Chinese-speaking second language (L2) learners of English develop L2 knowledge of conflation classes of verbs in the formation of prenominal adjectival participles. Four groups of 40 learners and 1 group of 30 native speakers of English participated in the study. They were asked to judge the acceptability of the prenominal adjectival participles placed in 4 different linguistic contexts. The results showed that the L2 learners displayed sensitivity to conflation classes governing the behavior of adjectival participles. Their knowledge developed gradually, in keeping with increasing exposure to English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]