The concept of bias is familiar to linguists primarily from the literature on questions. Following the work of Giannakidou and Mari (Truth and Veridicality in Grammar and Thought: Modality, Mood, and Propositional Attitudes, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2021), we assume "nonveridical equilibrium" (implying that p and ¬p as equal…

The objective of this dissertation is to test some major theories on the discourse function of the Greek indicative verb-forms in narrative. Since the publication of Stanley Porter and Buist Fanning's doctoral dissertations, verbal aspect has been a major area of research among scholars. Although the debate and research concerning the aspect of…

This paper studies mood distribution in the complement of Spanish assertive matrices when the matrix subject is modified by the quantifier "poco/a/s". The focus of this study is solely complement clauses, and adjectival and adverbial clauses are not considered. Following Mejías-Bikandi's (1994, 1998) account that the distribution of mood…

We used ERP methodology to investigate how readers validate discourse concepts and update situation models when those concepts followed factive (e.g., knew) and nonfactive (e.g., "guessed") verbs, and also when they were true, false, or indeterminate with reference to previous discourse. Following factive verbs, early (P2) and later brain…

Depending on the demands of a particular communicative situation, bilingual or multilingual speakers ("bilingualism-multilingualism") will switch between language varieties. Code-switching is the practice of moving between variations of languages in different contexts. In an educational context, code-switching is defined as the practice…

Recent research in language contact has investigated bilingual deviations from monolingual norms where syntax interfaces with the lexical and discourse components of the grammar (e.g. Iverson & Rothman 2008; Lozano 2006; Montrul 2004, 2005; Sorace & Filiaci 2006; Tsimpli et al. 2004). Such studies generally show that the…

Presents different types and degrees of modalizations which are necessary for the construction of a discourse grammar. (Text is in French.) (CDSH/AM)

Studies an extension of the modality system currently in use in narrative semiotics in order to determine the status of prophecy in narrative syntax. (Text is in French.) (CDSH/AM)

Argues for the description of thematic roles as two-cluster concepts called Proto-Agent and Proto-Patient, each characterized by a set of verbal entailments. It is asserted that an argument of a verb may bear on either or both proto-roles to varying degrees, according to the number and kind of entailments provided by the verb. (133 references) (JL)

Studies modality in the context of discourse analysis and an agent theory. (Text is in French.) (CDSH/AM)

The nature of the system of linguistic entities of a natural language is examined. The purpose is to define the relation between "le lexique" and an overall linguistic theory, the relation between form and meaning. (Text is in French.) (TL)

Kuno's direct discourse analysis is examined and rejected, and the Prague School concepts of theme and rheme are shown to be relevant to Kuno's data and additional data. It is further shown that an incompatible application of two or more transformations produces sentences that tend to be bad. (SC)

Reviews aspects of Halliday's Systemic-Functional Grammar, emphasizing language functions, modality vs modulation, process types, transitivity, information distribution, and cohesion. Implications for language teaching are discussed. (AM)

Analysis of French speech act verbs offers an account of how clarifying verbs (e.g., "preciser, souligner") are used in reported speech microstructures in news writing and how each verb has its own lexico-pragmatic specificity. The verbs contribute to textual cohesion and to clarification in terms of the relationship between the reported speech…