Describes the interaction between disjunct constituents and sentential structures and argues for an extension of the theoretical apparatus intially postulated in autosegmental phonology to represent complex syntactic structures containing disjunct constituents with a number of independent phrase markers that intersect at the linear axis. (66…

Describes how two conversants can jointly produce a single syntactic unit, such as a sentence, discussing the types of sentences achieved through joint production, the single utterance construction format, syntax for conversation, interactionally relevant features of talk, and the resources needed to complete an utterance-in-progress. (37…

Considers several difficulties, both empirical and conceptual, that arise from the formulation of the classical Binding Theory that states the following: (1) an anaphor must be locally bound, (2) a pronoun must not be locally bound, and (3) an R-expression must not be bound. Ways of overcoming these difficulties are presented. (39 references) (GLR)

A review of the Writer Rabbit software program details its multiple classroom uses, focusing on language arts activities such as practicing identification and classification of sentence parts, practicing spelling, and inventing stories. (CB)

Explains and illustrates some rarely explained and often underemphasized punctuation principles. (AEA)

Discusses functional and anaphoric control in complex sentences (sentences with more than one verb) in Jordanian Arabic within the framework of Lexical-Functional Grammar. It is argued that Jordanian Arabic utilizes anaphoric rather that functional control. (18 references) (JL)

Argues that Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) languages exhibit properties that are consistent with the typology of Lehmann and Venneman in which the basic dichotomy is between Object-Verb and Verb-Object languages and that there is no reason to believe that there are fewer exceptionless generalizations to be made about SVO languages than there are about…

Presents a preliminary study of the use of the Spanish preposition "a" with inanimate direct object nouns (DOs). The properties of such constructions at the lexical, sentence, and discourse levels are described, and the general principles that condition the preposition's appearance are discussed. (21 references) (GLR)

Thirteen papers in this book illustrate MacWhinney and Bates's Competition Model (CM), with a focus on cross-linguistic processing. Studies in this volume show that (1) the CM is useful in predicting certain gross cross-linguistic differences of comprehension, particularly in relation to actor assignment and (2) children's processing strategies…

Reviews and compares views of grammarians, usage experts, and authors of technical writing books concerning "dangling participles." Finds many unattached clauses are unacceptable, some are less objectionable, and still others are acceptable. Notes that cultural (and perhaps gender) differences between humanistic teachers and…

This paper presents an alternative analysis of tough constructions for N. Chomsky's 1981 wh-movement analysis of tough constructions. To replace Chomsky's solution and to obviate the need for generalized transformations in Government-Binding (GB) theory, an alternative analysis is proposed in which the tough subject originates as an embedded…

Constraint on syntax may be reflected in the transient processing demands of lexical retrieval suggesting syntactic-lexical processing interaction. The syntactic structure of utterances appears sensitive to the accessibility of lexical information with more accessibility occurring earlier in sentences. Models of interactions within a…

Reviews the literature and examines the state of technology for computer based text analysis. The computer capabilities of several available text analysis programs are presented. (Author)

This paper describes various aspects of syntactic theory, including lexical, functional, and phrasal categories and how they are put together in clauses and sentences, how words are represented in the mental lexicon, and how noun phrases are assigned structural and semantic information. Language acquisition and the treatment of language disorders…

Discusses the complement and predicate (or adjunct) short clauses (SCs) in active transitive verb structures. Published Spanish literature is reviewed and evaluated, Spanish SC surface structure (SS) is described, an argument is presented against SS restructuring in Spanish, and analyses of several hypotheses are provided. (GLR)