In her valuable commentary, Kerkhoff raises several issues, both empirical and conceptual. In particular, she argues that morphophonological regularities represented in associative memory might suffice for the acquisition of French grammatical gender. She thus questions whether a default implemented as a rule is necessary and whether it is even…

During the last years there has been an increasing interest in examining the brain responses to word order variations. In one ERP study conducted in Spanish, Casado, Martin-Loeches, Munoz, and Fernandez-Frias (2005) had participants read Spanish transitive sentences with either an SVO (subject-verb-object) or an OVS order. The word order of a…

In this brief rejoinder, we respond to Farmer, Monaghan, Misyak, and Christiansen (2011). We argue that the data still do not support the claim that reading time is affected by the phonological typicality of a word for its part of speech. We also question Farmer et al.'s claim that interleaving syntactic structures in an experiment modifies…

Discusses the falsehood of the standardly expressed rule of English that an attributive noun is singular, unless no singular exists. Modern English admits both singular and plural attributive count nouns; the selection of number of the attributive noun depends on the sense to be conveyed. This proof suggests that constructions of the (attributive…

Examines the process of formation of the "syntheme" in German, and its role in the economy of language. (AM)

A discussion of possessives, determiners, and modifiers covers the following topics: nonuniformity of nouns, distributional differences between demonstratives and definitive articles, and German possessives and the determiner-modifier continuum. (Contains eight references.) (LB)

New spellers, adults just beginning to learn to read and write, face daunting problems with English vocabulary. Teachers use varying approaches to help these students, including published lists of Words Most Frequently Used. This paper provides an inventory of words used in letters to syndicated columnist "Dear Abby" as published in a…

Discusses the general problem of the formal correspondence between predicates and phrases, introducing the principle that the fundamental units of a lexicon are phrases rather than words. Shows that the novelty of this approach consists in an integration of lexicon and syntax and poses particular problems where the noun is concerned. (MES)

Develops Chomsky's proposal that the theoretical status of D-structure should be nullified in favor of alternation between Merger and Chain Formation, arguing that Merger has priority over Chain Formation in building A'-dependencies. Establishes a cross-linguistic correlation between wh-questions and quantification, discussing Chinese, Japanese,…

Demonstrates the specific ways in which the influence of Chinese manifests itself in the structure of the noun phrases containing relative-clause modifiers in colloquial Singapore English. Argues that while previous researchers have been correct in pointing out the substratal influence of Chinese, they have not gone far enough in articulating the…

Examines some of the early uses of instrumental nouns unaccompanied by prepositions and considers the various meanings they conveyed, in order to show the kinds of changes they have undergone. A number of nominal forms have been adverbialized, and some have been replaced by prepositional phrases or other grammatical constructions. (SL)

Discusses the noun-plus-adjective construction in contemporary German and problems in translating this pattern into English. (AM)

Reinterprets the findings of Kim "et al" (1994), who argue that the preference children and adults show for regular inflection for verbs and nouns with novel meanings should be attributed to their grammatically based sensitivity to the derivations of these verbs and nouns. This article argues for a semantic/functional instead of a grammatical…

Discusses the prevalent trend in American English to verbify, that is to convert nonverbs into verbs. Offers criteria to help decide when to use verbified words. (SR)

The chapters in this book originated as open lectures and each reflects the occasion on which it was presented. The three chapters are: "Grammar, Society, and the Noun"; "The Context of Linguistics"; and "Ideas about Language." Chapters 1 and 3 were given as inaugural lectures that celebrated the foundation of new…