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The relationship between the distribution of nominalizers in Lhasa Tibetan and the argument/adjunct property of relevant syntactic elements is approached from a generative perspective. The distribution of nominalizers in Lhasa Tibetan demonstrates a regular pattern. Some nominalizers are bi-functional in that they can mark both participant and event nominalizations while others are uni-functional in that they can only mark participant nominalizations. It is found that the difference between the two types of nominalizers correlates to whether the nominalizer (NML) is argument-associated or adjunct-associated. An account of the correlation is developed in the theoretical framework of generative grammar. It is argued that the syntactic derivation of an NML-phrase gives rise to a binding relationship between the nominalizer and the suppressed element in the source constituent Aspect Phrase (AspP) or the AspP itself, leading to a condition on its semantic interpretation. The condition is satisfied in a participant NML-phrase headed by a nominalizer of either type and in an event NML-phrase headed by a bi-functional nominalizer. It is not in an event NML-phrase headed by a uni-functional nominalizer for the reason that in the calculation of event semantics arguments align with events while adjuncts align with predicates. Specifically, a bi-functional nominalizer, being argument-associated, semantically matches both a suppressed argument in a participant NML-phrase and the source constituent AspP, whereas a uni-functional one, being adjunct-associated, semantically matches a suppressed adjunct in a participant NML-phrase but not the source constituent AspP. Consequently, no event NML-phrase headed by an adjunct-associated nominalizer is found in this language. The findings of this study have implications for both analyzing the distribution of nominalizers in other Tibeto-Burman languages and the syntactic and semantic mechanisms that constrain them, and for classifying the argument/adjunct asymmetry, which is fundamental in most current linguistic frameworks as well as research on human sentence processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an insight on the centrality of two main paradigms of the current linguistic theory in the field of Spanish as a second/foreign language acquisition, and its operative role in teaching. Generative Grammar (GG) as well as Cognitive Grammar (CG) are mentalist models, however, its postulates on the connection between human cognition and non-native linguistic knowledge are, in many cases, opposite; therefore, these models imply different conceptions of a pedagogical grammar. Throughout the paper, it is taken into consideration the way in which they are antagonistic, but also how they can be complementary. Even though GC has been more popular in classroom teaching, current GG may have a relevant impact on the curriculum, as well as on the instruction, by presenting a greater predictive capacity to identify the learner’s difficulties in processing certain linguistic structures. Finally, other key notions on linguistic knowledge, processability, and input, regarding didactic intervention, are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present corpus data from Dutch and English on long-distance movement and discuss its diachronic development in Dutch, English and German. Long-distance movement is the displacement phenomenon characterized by the appearance of a part of a dependent clause in a higher clause (e.g. What crimes did the FBI discover he had committed?). It has played a central role within generative grammar over the past few decades. The picture that emerges is that long-distance movement appears to be currently most productive in English and least productive in German, whereas Dutch occupies an in-between position. As we will argue, the productivity of long-distance movement is strongly tied to the availability of functional alternatives. German has at least three of such alternatives that are fully productive, whereas Dutch has one particularly productive one. The alternative constructions do not involve long-distance movement: the dependency between the constituent in the matrix clause and the position in the embedded clause where it is interpreted is formed indirectly, in the semantics, and not via syntactic movement. In English, long-distance movement is most productive when the complementizer is deleted. This is not just the case for subject movement but also for non-subject movement. Special attention is paid to the so-called that-trace effect and its alleged absence in German and Dutch. The general conclusion is that long-distance movement is possible in all languages under consideration, but more restricted than commonly assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historiographers of linguistics have typically claimed that by the 1970s, generative grammarians were organizationally dominant in the field of linguistics in the United States. I demonstrate that such is not true. To support my assertion, I present evidence based on who held LSA offices in the 1970s and 1980s, on what was published in the journal Language, on presentations at LSA meetings, on the composition of summer Linguistics Institutes, on grants awarded to linguists, and on jobs advertised in the field. My explanation for the lack of generative dominance is based on various factors, including the immaturity and diversity of the field of linguistics, on generative grammar not being a grant-dependent enterprise, and on the attitude toward the LSA exhibited by Chomsky and many of his closest co-thinkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to compare musical language with verbal language, creating a new perspective on music and natural language. The three categories of linguistics, phonology, syntax and semantics are analyzed. Bernstein highlights the analogies between the linguistic categories and music, researching the same three components of linguistics in music. The possibility of applying the transformational grammar procedures to the musical text is studied. In the second part of the paper, the authors investigate the method of analysis based on harmony and counterpoint, differentiating several structural levels conceived by the theoretical musician H. Schenker. Schenkerian analyzes are a relatively recent appearance in the field of musical analysis, which proposes as an innovation in the field of musical analysis the structural vision of musical discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I provide a critical survey of the role that semantics took in the several models of generative grammar, since the 1950s until the Minimalist Program. I distinguish four different periods. In the first section, I focus on the role of formal semantics in generative grammar until the 1970s. In Section 2 I present the period of linguistic wars, when the role of semantics in linguistic theory became a crucial topic of debate. In Section 3 I focus on the formulation of conditions on transformations and Binding Theory in the 1970s and 1980s, while in the last Section I discuss the role of semantics in the minimalist approach. In this section, I also propose a semantically-based model of generative grammar, which fully endorses minimalism and Chomsky's later position concerning the primary role of the semantic interface in the Universal Grammar modelization (Strong Minimalist Thesis). In the Discussion, I point out some theoretical problems deriving from Chomsky's internalist interpretation of model-theoretic semantics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of the given research is connected with the investigation of there sentences in English The word there is a polysemeous word and can be a pronoun or an adverb. As a pronoun it can be used as the subject of the verb 'be' to say that something exists or does not exist, or to draw attention to it; in front of certain verbs when you are saying that something exists, develops, or can be seen. Whether the verb is singular or plural depends on the noun which follows the verb; The word there can be used in the form of convention. It is used after 'hello' or 'hi' when you are greeting someone. When the word there is used as an adverb its semantics varies. The question of how the two ways of using there originated also plays some part in synchronic treatments, as reflected in recent developments in linguistics. In the field of generative grammar, defining the categorial status and syntactic function of there is of central importance. Grammarians are unanimous in their view that the there is often a subject in a sentence. However, there is disagreement about whether there is introduced transformationally, or whether it is already present in the syntactic deep structure. Proponents of generative grammar separate nominal there very strictly from adverbial there. They tend to regard the identity of form as coincidental. Syntactic analyses contribute little or nothing about the semantics of there. Characteristic of this is the recurrent description of there as "dummy there", indicating that it has no meaning. But we should say that in spite of the fact that dummy words have no meaning they do have a grammatical function. The author investigates syntax and semantics of the word 'there'. In the article the ambiguity of sentences with the word 'there' and its emphatic characteristics are shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this contribution, I offer a summary of my 2014 Ph.D. dissertation from the University of Patras on headedness in word formation and lexical semantics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the framework of Generative Grammar, a standard (hypo)thesis has been that a (broad) wh-parameter may distinguish between two types of languages: those that front wh-elements (e.g., English) and those that realize them in situ (e.g., Chinese). Wh-fronting languages may also attest in situ arrangements, and a tacit (hypo)thesis, tied to the one above, is that in situ configurations translate to echo questions, while fronting configurations are genuine (information-seeking) questions. Neat as this taxonomy might look like, more recently it has been shown that, in Modem Greek, which is a typically wh-fronting language, each wh-configuration may map to either meaning. On the assumption that syntax mediates between form and meaning, mapping the former to the latter, the question that the Modern Greek evidence raises is to what extent syntax regulates the form-meaning associations under consideration. In other words, the question is "how much" of the relevant semantics is registered in the corresponding syntactic structures. Capitalizing on already documented evidence from distribution, interpretation, and intonation, the present paper argues that syntax encodes certain aspects of the relevant semantics, and pans out a formal system that attributes other aspects of this semantics to a direct interaction between PF and LF, thereby recognizing the existence of this interface area. The theoretical import(ance) of this analysis (part of which is prefigured elsewhere) is that it revisits the standard organization of the Grammar, as viewed from a Minimalist perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In generative grammar, locative inversion in Bantu languages is typically analyzed in terms of A-movement of the locative from a VP-internal position to the subject position. I present an alternative analysis, according to which the locative subject-DP is introduced above the νP/VP, in the specifier of a functional category whose head selects the νP/VP as its complement. I suggest that this category is Pr (for 'predication'), i.e., the same category that also introduces the subject argument of adjectival or nominal predicates in non-verbal predication constructions (see Bowers 1993, and especially Baker 2003a for Bantu). In locative inversion, Pr establishes a non-canonical predication relation between a νP/VP that expresses a state or event, and a DP that denotes the location of which this state/event is predicated as a property. My analysis is developed on the basis of a detailed discussion of 'semantic' locative inversion in the Bantu language Zulu (Buell 2007), a construction in which the inverted subject-DP is not formally marked as a locative, but receives its interpretation solely by virtue of the locative semantics of its head noun. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any approach to understanding morphological processing must begin with assumptions about the role of morphemes in linguistic representations. Contemporary linguistic theory proposes that such representations are centred on a syntactic organisation of morphemes, where a morpheme is an abstract syntactic unit that finds an interpretation in form and in meaning. From the linguist's perspective, then, morphological processing falls together with syntactic processing, and both involve the central exploitation of a grammar of morphemes. Recent computational work has challenged this perspective, proposing instead that morphological structure emerges from the acquisition of form/meaning connections. Here we show that these challenges to the role of morphemes in word and sentence processing rest on a misunderstanding of the morpheme within linguistic theory. Once we understand the notion of a morpheme and its explanatory role within linguistic theory, we can see that apparent challenges to the morpheme, rather than dispensing with the morpheme in the architecture of linguistic representations, always in fact presuppose a syntactic structure of morphemes as the unlearned input to language learning models. Since computational modelling is indispensable for work connecting theories of linguistic representation to theories of (morphological) processing, it is crucial that those constructing computational models appreciate why there is no escape from morphemes in morphological processing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

. 'GSGM' builds no syntactic structures; rather, semantics and morphosyntax are both generative and run in parallel, and so have no need of mediating syntactic structure. In this environment, positing different modes of embedding for NPs and clauses, as in Williams 2003, affords new minimal accounts of movement, scope, agreement, and the bounds on them. Syntax/morphosyntax is instantiated as a single parameterized function ('Combine'). Combine derives both mirroring and nonmirroring structure, as any theory must, but in distinctive 'size-relative' patterns determined by its parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Repetition priming was used to examine whether children with dyslexia bias a lexical-semantic pathway when reading words aloud. For the dyslexic group (n = 18, age 9.4-11.8 years), but not for age-matched controls (n = 18, age 9.2-12.4 years), reaction times when naming pictures were faster after naming the corresponding word. A reading age-matched control group (n = 24, age 6.8-8.9 years) showed similar priming effects to the children with dyslexia. The magnitude of repetition priming was greater for children with dyslexia with poor nonword reading and slower picture naming. Assuming repetition priming of picture naming is contingent on accessing lexical phonology via semantics, the results suggest less-skilled normal and disordered readers show a stronger bias towards a lexical- semantic pathway during word reading than skilled readers, and the severity of the phonological representations deficit modulates the strength of that bias in children with dyslexia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the outcome of a study aimed at discovering linguistic and socio-cultural similarities and differences between kinship terms in English and Ukwuani languages. It shows how anthropology and sociology impact on the taxonomy of kinship terms for meaning interpretation; 'descent', being gradually and strongly integrative of social affinity, and revealing how speakers use their language to organize the world around them. The research methodology employed questionnaires, oral interview and anthropological data, designed to generate authentic responses from mature native speakers and regular users of Ukwuani and English living speeches. The findings reveal among other facts, that both languages do not have kinship terms which express all possible kinship, both languages do not have exact translation equivalent and English has more lexicalized terms while Ukwuani has some lexicalized marriage kinship, not lexicalized in English, and additional markings indicating seniority. The study also confirms universals in human kinship which remain functionally stable with linguistic principles of classificatory terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Chomskyan generative grammar has long been committed to the ‘double-interface’ assumption that the faculty of language (FL) serves two interfaces, PF and LF, and correlatively that expressions have phonological and semantic properties. The paper argues this gives rise to (a) a grounding problem for syntax – i.e. for the interpretable content of syntax – and (b) a problem for the assumption that FL is a generative computation. It is argued these problems are resolved if we think of syntax as grounded exclusively in semantic/conceptual properties. Since this implies that FL is phonology-free, it is argued that FL should not be distinguished from a generative computation describable as ‘the language of thought’ (LOT). The paper explores to what extent this (FL=LOT) thesis is consistent with Chomsky''s thinking. Chomsky''s recent work can be seen as pointing in that direction but it is not consistent with the double-interface assumption, which he continues to regard as conceptually necessary. In the light of discussion of the issues, the paper concludes with a speculation on the role of phonology in human cognition and its evolution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article I examine ditransitive verbs that can describe caused possession (e.g. give, throw, send) by looking at their lexical aspectual properties, a methodology that has proved fruitful for the exploration of (in)transitive verbs. I show that as a whole these ditransitives share a number of aspectual properties in common with (in)transitive verbs of change of state and motion, suggesting a single shared underlying analysis, which I outline in terms of the scalar analysis of change of Beavers (forthcoming b). However, a difficulty of such an analysis is that for many ditransitives, the putative result state (caused possession) is cancellable, which complicates how factors such as telicity are calculated on most models of aspect. To account for this, I show that all ditransitives nonetheless entail at least some non-cancellable result, though there is considerable micro-variation in what that result is. The result is an aspectually based classification of ditransitives quite similar to previously proposed classes of (in)transitives. I also show that the analysis I develop may shed some light on why certain classes of ditransitives only rarely participate in the dative alternation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is argued that binding theory (BT) must recognize two types of covaluation: the familiar type, which holds between two NPs when they have the same semantic value, and a new type, which holds between two NPs when one of them denotes an attitude holder and the other the ‘self’ of the attitude holder. This is shown to account for the acceptability of ‘de re’ reflexive pronouns and unacceptability of some ‘de re’ non-reflexive pronouns. Alternative theories, which attempt to preserve the standard BT, are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Relatively little research has been devoted to the role that Lexical Conceptual Structure plays in the semantics of Spanish. The present study analyzes the lexical entry of the se pronoun, covering its average and reflexive functions, as well as the verbs with which it is associated (e.g. quebrarse). Within the generative framework, the article proposes a model of lexical representation where both Lexical Conceptual Structure and the mechanism of percolation play a critical role in the derivation and interpretation of Spanish verbs with se. In addition, the article explores that the advantages the proposed model has over other models of lexical representation. Finally, a method is proposed which facilitates the teaching and learning of this pronoun in our Spanish courses, at any level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This experiment examined the item-level relationship between 7-year-olds’ ability to read words aloud and their knowledge of the same words in the oral domain. Two types of knowledge were contrasted: familiarity with the phonological form of the word (lexical phonology), measured by auditory lexical decision, and semantic knowledge, measured by a definitions task. Overall, there was a robust relationship between word knowledge and reading aloud success. The association was stronger when words contained irregular spelling–sound correspondences. There was no evidence that a deeper or more semantic knowledge of words was more closely related to reading aloud success beyond the association between reading success and familiarity with the phonological form of the same words. This finding is not compatible with models that see semantics as contributing directly to the reading aloud process, at least during the relatively early stages of reading development. More critical was whether or not a word was considered a lexical item, as indexed by auditory lexical decision performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Term-based summarization assumes that it is possible to determine the importance of a sentence on the basis of the words it contains. To achieve this, words are weighted using term-weighting measures which in turn are used to weight the sentences. This article presents a comparative evaluation of summaries produced using different term-weighting measures and different combinations of parameters which are used to calculate these measures. Comparative evaluation of summaries produced reveals that in many cases simple methods such as term frequency can produce informative summaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many English transitive verbs, such as deliver, eat, know, read, and understand, can function without an object. The classification of these verbs has long been a challenge. An examination of both grammar reference books and textbooks finds both inconsistency and inaccuracy in the current treatment of these verbs, showing a need for a more accurate and consistent description of these verbs. Using an approach that combines syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic analysis, the author proposes a classification framework that provides a more accurate and systematic description of these verbs. It classifies English verbs used without an object into four categories: 1) pure intransitive verbs, such as arrive, rise, and sleep; 2) ergative intransitive verbs, such as break, increase, and open; 3) transitive-converted intransitive verbs of activity, such as eat, hunt, and read; 4) object-deleting verbs, warranted by discourse or situational context, such as know, notice, and promise. The object-deleting verbs are in turn divided into five sub-types according to their semantic features. The article ends with a discussion of the implications of this framework for writers of grammar reference books and textbooks and for English language learners in dealing with these verbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Visual displays of information (such as dashboards) have become very sophisticated in rendering world semantics but neglect display semantics, leading to what is commonly called information overload. Underlying storage and retrieval research has been utilizing semantic and cognitive theory to drive the current implementations of ontology markup using the resource description framework (RDF) and Web ontology language (OWL) for over a decade. Yet despite these semantically rich underlying description logics, and despite the very large and mature stream of cognitive and neuroscience theory literature on visual perception and attention, memory, and linguistics, this is one aspect within the area of information visualization and human factors research where empirically tested semantic theory has not yet caught up, and begs for theory-driven research into display semantics using what might be termed “graphical linguistics.” We conducted an experiment to assess the cognitive effort of interpreting domain general knowledge using the same information represented in three forms, and found that graphical linguistics reduce cognitive effort for a specific type of task involving high-density time-sensitive information typically found in situation control rooms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the systematic description of the most productive particle, which has been used in English phrasal verb construction "up" and aims to possibly highlight all possible ambiguity. Accordingly, the particle "up" appears to be used most of the time, as an intensifier or as an aspect marker, which is said to have changed the activity into one of accomplishment and has the chance to be deleted in almost 40% of the cases being scrutinized. It is being concluded that the subcategorization refinements would help mitigate ambiguity that involves English phrasal verbs and that some uncertainty still remains, when the ambiguity involves subject commutation.

Adger (2006) claims that the Minimalist Program provides a suitable theoretical framework for analysing at least one example of inherent variability: the variation between was and were after you and we in the Scottish town of Buckie. Drawing on the feature analysis of pronouns and the assumption that lexical items normally have equal probabilities, his analysis provides two 'routes' to we/you was, but only one to we/you were, thereby explaining why the former is on average twice as common as the latter. This comment points out four serious flaws in his argument: it ignores important interactions among sex, age and subject pronoun; hardly any social groups actually show the predicted average 2:1 ratio; there is no general tendency for lexical items to have equal probability of being used; the effects of the subject may be better stated in terms of the lexemes you and we rather than as semantic features. The conclusion is that inherent variability supports a usage-based theory rather than Minimalism. [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]

The most important challenges for linguistics in the coming years involve making better contact with colleagues, with other frameworks and subdisciplines within linguistics, with theories of meaning and conceptualization, with psycholinguistics, with theories of other domains of cognition, with neuroscience, and with education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The view of pattern grammar is that syntactic structures and lexical items are co-selected and that grammatical categories begin to align very closely with semantic distinctions. While this is certainly a valid position when analysing the phenomenon of collocation, it does not really solve the problem for open choice issues. Not all language use can be subsumed under the idiom principle. The noun hatred, for instance, can co-occur with any discourse object for which hatred can be expressed. It can also co-occur with other lexical items standing for various circumstantial aspects. The grammatical structure itself often does not tell us whether we find expressed the object of hatred or some circumstantial aspect, as these structures tend to have more than one reading. Lexicogrammar, or local grammar, is more than equating a syntactic structure with a semantic pattern. We have to be aware of the different functions or readings a given grammatical structure can have. The framework of valency/dependency grammar can help us to make the necessary distinctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The two versions of the connectionist model of Dell and colleagues offer alternative explanations of aphasic naming disorders (Dell, Schwartz, Martin, Saffran, & Gagnon, 1997; Foygel & Dell, 2000). The semantic-phonological (SP) model hypothesises impairments in lexical-semantic or lexical-phonological connections, and the weight-decay (WD) model assumes global impairments in either connection weights or activation decay. In each version, a patient's error pattern in picture naming is simulated to assess the underlying disorder (connectionist "diagnosis"). A systematic comparison of both model versions in model-oriented naming therapy has not yet been performed. Moreover, if the normalisation of the error pattern during recovery is lesion-specific, as suggested in the SP model (Schwartz, Dell, Martin, Gahl, & Sobel, 2006), this should be observable in the patient data. Aims: Predictions were made and tested regarding the relation between (1) connectionist diagnosis and therapy outcome, and (2) connectionist diagnosis and error pattern development. For example, patients with phonological disorders in the SP model should (1) benefit more from phonological as compared to semantic therapy, and (2) present a decrease of nonwords in their naming responses. Methods & Procedures: The connectionist diagnosis and a 4-week therapy with cueing hierarchies (Howard, 2000; Wambaugh et al., 2001) were administered to 10 German-speaking aphasic patients with naming disorders. Six patients, who had been diagnosed by the SP model, received semantic and phonological therapy. The other four patients, diagnosed by the WD model, received increasing and vanishing therapy (Abel, Schultz, Radermacher, Willmes, & Huber, 2005). Outcomes & Results: Cueing therapy was generally effective for 9 of 10 patients. The trend of improvement was always found in the direction predicted by the connectionist diagnosis, except for two patients diagnosed by the SP model who presented a numerical trend in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, the SP model offered a more plausible explanation of lesion-specific therapy outcomes, and it properly predicted the error pattern development. Moreover, the errorless learning procedure applied in vanishing therapy was favourable for patients with phonological (SP model) or weight (WD model) lesions, and this may be attributed to their characteristic error types and an impairment of editorial processes. Conclusions: Models can be informative about the effectiveness of potential therapies and error pattern developments. Data from therapy studies can test competing models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for a constructional approach to English progressives. On this view, progressivity is a construction-level property, rather than a lexical property of the ing forms that progressive verb phrases contain or of the auxiliary. The incompatibility of ing forms with state verbs in progressive constructions provides crucial evidence in support of the construction-based perspective, given that stative ing forms are fully acceptable in gerundive and other ing constructions. Of course, underlying this approach is the proposal that gerund is neutralizable with present participle (Huddleston 1984, 2002b, c; Pullum 1991; Blevins 1994). A lexicalist and construction-based analysis of gerundive nominals, as in Pullum (1991) and Blevins (1994), offers a means of claiming that progressivity is a property of the combination of an auxiliary and ing participle, just as the perfect aspect is expressed by the combination of have and a past participle, as proposed in Ackerman & Webelhuth (1998) and Spencer (2001b), and implicitly in Curme (1935) and other traditional grammars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recognition and extraction of terms and their variants in texts are crucial processes in text mining. We use the ILC platform, an automatic controlled indexing platform, to perform these linguistic processes. We present a methodology for enhancing the recognition of syntactic term variation in English, using syntactic and morpho-syntactic features. Principal spurious variants of terms are ascribed to incorrect word dependencies. To overcome these problems, we consider each term variant as a window on the sentence and introduce two criteria: an internal syntactic criterion which checks that the dependencies between words in the window are respected, and an external criterion which defines boundaries, making it possible to ensure that the window is well positioned in the sentence. The use of these criteria improves filtering of the variants and assists the expert in validating the indexing. [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]

Abstract: This paper develops optimal gender assignment theory, an approach to gender assignment couched within the formalism of Optimality Theory [Prince, Alan, Smolensky, Paul, 1993. Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. Rutgers University and University of Colorado, Boulder] and drawing on Steinmetz’ [Steinmetz, Donald, 1985. Gender in German and Icelandic: inanimate nouns. In: Faarlund, J.T. (Ed.), Germanic Linguistics. Papers from a Symposium at the University of Chicago. IULC, Bloomington, IN, pp. 10–28; Steinmetz, Donald, 1986. Two principles and some rules for gender in German: inanimate nouns. Word 37, 189–217] insights into the nature of gender assignment. We focus on cases of gender assignment conflict, i.e., cases in which a noun is within the domain of competing gender assignment principles. A typological of such conflicts is proposed, distinguishing balanced from imbalanced conflicts, and a formalism is developed. We argue that features relevant for gender assignment contribute equally to that process, such that there is no priority of principles sensitive to semantic features, contra Corbett [Corbett, Greville, 1991. Gender. CUP, Cambridge]. In the context of Optimality Theory, optimal gender assignment theory provides an example of crucial equal ranking, a formal option allowed but unexplored by Prince and Smolensky (1993). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Historically, control in generative grammar has fallen within the province of syntactic theory. One primary reason for this is that Mainstream Generative Grammar (MGG) has imposed a strong uniformity criterion on analyses as a measure of their explanatory adequacy. One aspect of this uniformity criterion, which we call Interface Uniformity, holds that the syntax-semantics interface is maximally simple, in that meaning maps transparently into syntactic structure, and that it is maximally uniform, so that the same meaning always maps into the same syntactic structure. It follows from Interface Uniformity that a nonfinite VP has a syntactic subject that is assigned its external θ-role. We argue that this view is most sustainable if one does not take into account the full richness and complexity of control phenomena, but treats control strictly in terms of complementation. When a fuller range of phenomena is taken into account, it appears that it is preferable to "turn over control" to the semantics, which is better equipped to capture the facts. We outline how to formulate the syntax-semantics interface so as to get the semantic facts to line up properly with the syntactic facts. This analysis of the interface extends naturally to raising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why is it preferable to say "salt and pepper" over "pepper and salt?" Based on an analysis of 692 binomial tokens from online corpora, we show that a number of semantic, metrical, and frequency constraints contribute significantly to ordering preferences, overshadowing the phonological factors that have traditionally been considered important. The ordering of binomials exhibits a considerable amount of variation. For example, although "principal and interest" is the more frequent order, "interest and principal" also occurs. We consider three frameworks for analysis of this variation: traditional optimality theory, stochastic optimality theory, and logistic regression. Our best models—using logistic regression—predict 79.2% of the binomial tokens and 76.7% of types, and the remainder are predicted as less frequent—but not ungrammatical—variants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We argue that there are no devices in the grammar specific to coordination. The grammar is only capable of providing asymmetric structures, through particular lexical entries relating to semantic conjunction. Such entries produce adjunction structures, rather than head-complement structures. The interpretation of conjunction structures is a joint function of such lexical entries, processing properties, and pragmatics. Coordination phenomena are the result of an unresolved ambivalence between a ‘head initial’ and a ‘head final’ asymmetric conjunction structure, with the effect that there are parallel representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present an experiment dealing with corpus-based construction of “differential ontologies”, which are organised according to semantic similarity and differential features. We argue that knowledge-rich defining contexts can be useful to help an ontology modeller in his task. We present a method, based on lexico-syntactic patterns, to spot such contexts in a corpus, then identify the terms they relate (definiendum and genus or “characteristics”) and the semantic relation that links them. We also show how potential co-hyponyms can be detected on the basis of shared words in their definiens. We evaluate the extracted defining sentences, semantic relations and co-hyponyms on a test corpus focusing on childhood and on an evaluation corpus about dietetics (both corpora are French). Definition extraction obtains 50% precision and recall of approximately 40%. Semantic relation identification reaches an average of 48% precision, and co-hyponyms 23.5%. We discuss the results of these experiments and conclude on perspectives for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's reply to a review of his book, "Radical Construction Grammar: Syntactic Theory in Typological Perspective," by Pieter Seuren. In the review Seuren argues that the reason that the book is fundamentally misguided is that it is neither modular nor does it refer to rules. His real objection to the book is clear from the review, however: he objects to the sign-based model of grammar employed by the book, in which grammatical units are pairings of form (syntactic structure) and meaning (semantic structure). Seuren's position is more usually defined as the autonomy of syntax, the notion that syntax forms a self-contained system separate from semantics. According to the author, while the terms "module" and "rule" have been used with a wide range of meanings in linguistics and cognitive science, Seuren has used them in certain specific contexts. The author emphasizes that syntactic theory is in fact diverse and has not converged on the position Seuren takes for granted. According to him, Seuren is actually referring to Chomskyan generative grammar, which retains the principles of autonomy of syntax and uses transformational rules.

This paper explores a theory of the meaning-form relation based on ranked and violable constraints [A. Prince, P. Smolensky, 1993. Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and University of Colorado, Boulder], using the English genitive construction as a testing ground. Our main thesis is that partially ordered optimality-theoretic grammars allow us to relate four apparently independent empirical phenomena: (i) categorical grammaticality contrasts; (ii) variation and preferences in expression; (iii) ambiguity and preferences in interpretation; (iv) lexical organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Event-related brain potentials (ERP) studies show that L2 learners can exhibit relatively native-like processing patterns in semantics [Bilingual.: Lang. Cogn. 4 (2001) 123], but examining different semantic information types—associative and categorical—shows that L2 semantic processing is sensitive to proficiency. If the links between concepts and L2 words are weak for L2 learners [J. Memory Lang. 33 (1994) 149; Memory Cogn. 23 (1995) 166], then lower proficiency learners are less likely to show native-like RT and ERP N400 priming effects for categorical pairs (boy–junior) than are more advanced learners. If proficiency modulates the automaticity of processing in the L2 lexical network, less proficient late learners may also differ from advanced learners in associative priming (boy–girl). We report proficiency effects with ERP and RT data from word list priming performed by advanced and less proficient late German learners of English. The advanced learners showed associative RT and N400 ERP priming effects similar to early advanced learners and native speakers [Bilingual.: Lang. Cogn. 4 (2001) 143], but very limited categorical priming effects. The lower proficiency group showed no RT effects for either categorical or associative pairs but associative N400 priming. Results suggest that in a fast word list priming task, proficiency and the type of semantic information processed are important determinants of how autonomous L2 semantic processing can be. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article, the author presents an analysis of prepositional on-phrases in Middle English (ME) based on a quantitative analysis based on the texts available in the Helsinki Corpus of ME. The analysis of the corpus reveals that out of the 307 which were found with a temporal sense, 231 instances are used to indicate the day/time on which an event occurs.

The goal of this study is to reintegrate the theory of generative grammar into the cognitive sciences. Generative grammar was right to focus on the child's acquisition of language as its central problem, leading to the hypothesis of an innate Universal Grammar. However, generative grammar was mistaken in assuming that the syntactic component is the sole course of combinatoriality, and that everything else is "interpretive." The proper approach is a parallel architecture, in which phonology, syntax, and semantics are autonomous generative systems linked by interface components. The parallel architecture leads to an integration within linguistics, and to a far better integration with the rest of cognitive neuroscience. It fits naturally into the larger architecture of the mind/brain and permits a properly mentalistic theory of semantics. It results in a view of linguistic performance in which the rules of grammar are directly involved in processing. Finally, it leads to a natural account of the incremental evolution of the language capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the earliest days of generative grammar,there has existed a strong tendency to consider one argument structure construction in relation to a particular rough paraphrase.Initially this was a result of the emphasis on transformations that derived one pattern from another.While today there exist many non-derivational theories for which this motivation no longer exists,the traditional outlook has not completely lost its grip,as can be seen from continuing focus on partial or incomplete generalizations such as the 'dative 'construction or the 'locative 'alternation.This article argues that it is profitable to look beyond alternations and to consider each surface pattern on its own terms.Differences among instances of the same surface pattern are often most naturally attributed directly to the different verbs and arguments involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]