This paper is directed toward a traditional problem in the analysis of texts, that of finding meaningful linguistic units that are larger than a sentence and smaller than the text itself. Two principles are given for finding extended temporal structures based on the temporal expressions that occur in sentences: a sentence can be captured to form…

A HyperCard stack using digitized video to provide students of Russian with meaningful exercise in the use of verbal aspect and verbs of motion and position is described. Several problems presented by the Russian verb are defined. Examples of traditional textbook exercises are presented--translations, fill-ins, and picture-based approaches, and…

A study of reciprocals in Japanese compares two kinds: (1) a verbal suffix "aw"; and (2) an NP argument "otagai." Although "otagai" appears to be taken care of by syntactic binding theory, it is proposed that there is no evidence for the existence of a syntactic position of the object NP in the case of "aw." The suffix can be characterized as…

This paper studies the variety of Arabic imperative sentences, which are seen as the result of an interrelated set of choices made from a limited number of binary systems, and analyzes their occurrence in different situations. Where possible, relevant features of Arabic imperative structures are compared with their nearest English equivalents. The…

The Welsh verbal noun, a form spanning two grammatical categories much as the English "-ing" form does, is examined from the points of view of its dual role in Welsh grammar; its occurrence in the history of the Celtic language family; periphrastic tense constructions with "bod" ("be"), "gwneud"…

A syntactic analysis of the behavior of the Japanese causative is presented within the framework of Tree Adjoining Grammar (TAG). Three points are made: (1) certain aspects of the case-marking in the Japanese causative construction can be accounted for if it is assumed that the formation of the causative involves verb-movement, and that…

Almost every discussion of technical or scientific writing style mentions the passive voice as a stylistic choice to avoid. However, the passive voice does have legitimate uses in technical and scientific writing--the problem is to define the appropriate or effective uses and the inappropriate or ineffective ones. An examination of passive voice…

No formal notion of markedness has been advanced for syntactic-semantic features of language. A hypothesis is presented which states that if all related features are defined as comprising sets, then it is possible to predict the occurrence of a member of a set by the absence of any other member of the set. Any lexical item subcategorized for…

In Black English (BE), in addition to the motion verb "come," there exists a modal-like "come" which expresses speaker indignation. This "come" is comparable to other modal-like forms, identical to motion verbs, which occur in Black and non-Black varieties of English, and which signal various degrees of disapproval.…

This research is the result of 10 weeks of field work in Taiwan during the summer of 1972. It consists of a description, analysis, and comparison of the morphologically marked causative verbs in Rukai, Bunun, Tsou, Anis, Seedig, and Saisiyat. The theoretical framework employed is a type of case grammar referred to as "lexicase," a…

Reviews the grammatical, semantic, and stylistic difficulties in translating English passive constructions into French. (AM)

A study explored the efficacy of the general semantic technique of E-Prime (a technique for increasing awareness of abstraction through the deliberate deletion of all forms of the verb "to be") through a study of copula deletion (omission of auxiliary verbs) and flaming (the fervent exchange of emotionally charged messages) in electronic…

This instructional guide is to be used by teachers in the instruction of "Platero y Yo," written by Juan Ramon Jimenez, one of Spain's foremost poets. A systematic study is provided of movement throughout the text, by analyzing verb tenses, to help novice Spanish literature students grasp the scholastic and psychological interpretations of poetic…

The use of a model for treatment of English modals in a machine translation system being developed in Europe is discussed. The Eurotra system, sponsored by the Commission of the European Communities, is designed to translate into the nine official languages of the European Economic Community. The report first examines modality, the different ways…

It is proposed that the functions of the Mandarin verbal suffix "-le" are three: (1) for marking non-continual factual actions or events; (2) for indicating the "peak" in an event line; and (3) for explicitly marking anteriority of an action or event. Observations of written language drawn from newspaper articles and…