A number of studies have shown that structural factors play a much larger role than the linear order of words during the production of grammatical agreement. These findings have been used as evidence for a stage in the production process at which hierarchical relations between constituents have been established (a necessary precursor to…

This paper proposes a constructivist account of the development of morphosyntax in bilinguals, based on an examination of two populations--English-Spanish bilinguals in Miami and English-Welsh bilinguals in North Wales. Despite sociocultural and sociolinguistic differences across these groups, the development of bilinguals in the two groups…

This brochure discusses, in lay terms, how computers process language and why they may have difficulty in processing English. The brochure points out that English is a more difficult language to process than most people think, and that the brain is far more complex than the computer in its ability to decipher meaning. The examples of the word…

Combining linguistics and composition studies, this paper (part 1 of a two-part article) proposes a model for the analysis of information management and cohesion in written discourse. It defines concepts of discourse analysis--specifically information management, syntax, semantic reference, lexicon, cohesion, and intonation, with examples taken…

The orthographic compounds (two or more words written as one word) in M. Rhode and B. Cronnell's lexicon of words used by elementary school children are categorized in this paper, primarily in terms of related semantic/syntactic structures. Following a discussion of orthographic compounds, the paper mentions procedures used by Rhode and Cronnell…

Defines the characteristics of a "teaching grammar" (a text that aims to provide teachers of English as a foreign language with the linguistic information that they require for effective teaching) and contrasts such grammars with purely theoretical or linguistic grammars. Uses the passive voice in English to illustrate the contrasts.…

The article discusses language structures of three hierarchical levels of event descriptions: (1) single-action events (semantic relations, aspectual meaning and lexical verbs or verb phrases, (2) event relations (tense markers, conjunctions, adverbs, perfect tense); (3) event schemas (lexical terms and phrases marking beginnings and endings). A…

Presents a concept of end-user query language with facilities for expressing relationships between objects kept in a database. The idea of nesting these features in typical document query language is shown. Examples of usage of these new facilities are included. (Author/MBR)

The aim of this paper is to describe verbal complementation in Malagasy and to consider how the Malagasy data reflect the "binding hierarchy" proposed by Givon (1980). It is shown that the Malagasy data provide support for the hierarchy and that the occurrence of the complementizer "fa" can be accounted for in terms of the strength of binding the…

Discusses the fact that the conditional mood has wider distribution in Czech than in Russian as far as its meaning and use are concerned. An analysis of this phenomenon is proposed that makes use of many aspects and dimensions such as the relation between two propositions in an "if...then" construction, the "alternative…

Notes that the employment of databases to the study of the history of a language is a method that allows for substantial improvement in investigative quality. Illustrates this with the example of the application of this method to two studies of the history of Spanish developed in the Language and Information Seminary of the Independent University…

Examines the structures present in the writing samples of bilingual respondents to written questions in Spanish in order to determine which forms represent a departure from standard Spanish; discusses the patterns that develop; and offers insights into the factors underlying this systemic departure from standard written Spanish. (26 references)…

The first of two papers discusses natural language searching as a user performance enhancement tool, focusing on artificial intelligence applications for information retrieval and problems with natural language processing. The second presents a conceptual framework for further development and future design of front ends to online bibliographic…

Analyzes the "easy to be V" structure in terms of the semantic features of sentences with this structure. These sentences can be classified into types, ranging from the "prototype" with the most features contributing to its transparency, to the "peripheral" with the fewest of such features. (Author/CB)

In a discussion of possessives in Spanish, it is shown that three morphosyntactic constructs are systematically linked. The possessive dative construction, inalienable possession and nonrestrictive adjectives, and inalienable possession with subjects are examined. (25 references) (LB)