An experiment is reported that uses cross-modal priming to look at the resolution of anaphoric reference. Subjects given a visual lexical decision test simultaneously with an auditorily presented sentence showed selective semantic activation of the pronoun's referent on the basis of the pronoun's lexical properties. This finding is discussed in…

Many syntactic and semantic studies have focused on the distribution of closed-class lexical noun phrases (NPs) such as "her, herself, and each other." Recent work has demonstrated that many other NPs are also referentially dependent. A model-theoretic semantic analysis of a number of such referentially dependent NPs is presented. These…

Expands on an earlier article that explained how a Gricean theory of implicature might provide a systematic partial reduction of the Binding Conditions, and introduces a radical alternative that uses the same pragmatic framework but gives an account better adjusted to some languages. (113 references) (GLR)

An analysis of correlative constructions in Chinese that: (1) gives a principled account of the distribution of correlative markers; and (2) offers an explanation for some puzzling facts about distribution of anaphoric pronouns is presented. It is suggested that previous research has misidentified instances of verb phrase coordination as…

In this report data are presented that challenge the difficulty ordering for anaphoric syntax (e. g., pronouns) proposed by Bormuth, Manning, Carr, and Pearson in 1970. It is suggested that any such difficulty ordering resulting from tests of the form proposed by Bormuth (1970) will have uncontrolled variability due to semantic factors that have…

Reports results of a longitudinal study testing the acquisition of restrictions of the use of pronouns in children, first as 9 year olds and later as 11 year olds. (AM)

A polemic is made for frame semantics and the linguistic phenomenon of anaphoric reference without noun phrase (NP) antecedent is examined within this frame. Non-syntactic anaphora is that which does not point out into the real world but rather points back into the discourse in a frame which has been built up between the speaker and hearer in a…

The following articles on syntax and semantics were researched at the Harvard Syntax Workshop: (1) "Clause Reduction in Spanish," by Judith Aissen and David Perlmutter; (2) "Reduced WH-Questions," by Robin Bechhofer; (3) "Reduction in Conjoined WH-Questions," by Robin Bechhofer; (4) "On Subject-to-Object Raising…

This study demonstrates that a property of verbs, implicit causality, is important in determining coreference of potentially ambiguous anaphoric pronouns in a timed comprehension task. Verbs were classified according to bias toward a noun phrase; pairs of sentences were constructed for each. Response time was faster for congruent sentences. (CHK)

Discusses problems encountered in the use of possessives in spoken Spanish. (Text is in Spanish.) (CLK)

Examines the occurrence of filled pauses (FP) in the spontaneous speech of 11 speakers, finding that FP's occur (1) less often than expected before nouns, verbs, and adverbs, (2) more often than expected before pronouns, and (3) about as often as expected before adjectives. Tables and references. (VJ)

An analysis of pronoun separation (dislocation) in oral French distinguishes and examines the morphosyntactic patterns of three types, focusing on the relationship between the dislocated syntagm and the clitic pronoun. Three ways to test the stability of the dislocated element are outlined. (MSE)

A discussion of English-speaking children's use of subjectless sentences contrasts the competence and performance explanations for the phenomenon. In particular, it reviews evidence indicating that the phenomenon does not reflect linguistic competence, but rather performance constraints. A tentative model of children's production is presented…

The first part of this paper provides a description and discussion of the major aspects of the process of relativization in Israeli Hebrew: (a) the use of a subordinating relative particle which in most cases can neither be deleted nor replaced and which is prefixed to the first constituent of the embedded S; (b) the obligatory pronominalization…

Three experiments were conducted to ascertain the effect of contextual restraints on pronoun assignment. Pronoun selection is based on integration of the context even where it is already syntactically constrained. Integration occurs during and not following the assignment of the pronoun. (PMJ)