Reports on a study of the native lexicon of two genetically unrelated languages: Kambera and Dutch. Focuses on the expressive elements. (Author/VWL)

Four lexical features of a noun are relevant to agreement: semantic conditions on reference; person, number, and gender features of the referential index; concord features; and declension class. These features are correlated by a chain of binary constraints. Patterns of mixed agreement result from individual violations to the constraints. Three…

This paper argues that split-intransitive phenomena are better explained in semantic terms. A semantic analysis is carried out in Role and Reference Grammar, which assumes the theory of verb classification proposed in Dowty 1979. (49 references) (JL)

Investigates the semantical aspects of Oceanic language elements that function as directional verbs of motion (e.g., "go,""come,""return"). It is argued that human conceptualization of phenomena (viz. metaphor and metonymy) directly motivate the variety of grammaticalization processes observed with respect to these…

Active/agentive case markings are argued to be the products of successive diachronic developments, each individually motivated. Several factors obscure the motivations, including cross-linguistic differences in detail, shifts of defining features over time, grammaticization, and lexicalization. Explanation of case-systems requires understanding of…

Texts in Classical Nahuatl from 1524, in the genre of formal oratory, reveal extensive use of lines showing parallel morphosyntactic and semantic structure. Analysis and translation of a passage point to the applicability of structural analysis to "expressive" as well as "referential" texts; and the importance of understanding…

Presents psycholinguistic evidence from adult speakers of English, Norwegian, and Dutch, and from child speakers of Dutch and Norwegian that supports Dalrymple's (1995) proposal that the reciprocal pronoun has a flexible semantic value defining a range of readings of varying logical strength and that a semantic principle determines the reading…

Tests earlier claims about the universality of patterns of polysemy and semantic extension in the domain of perception verbs. Utilizing data from a broad range of Australian languages, two hypothesized universals are addressed: Viberg's (1994) proposed unidirectional pattern of extension from higher to lower sensory modalities and Sweeter's (1990)…

Notes that the "Comparative Austronesian Dictionary" (CAD) is one of a series of comparative dictionaries planned to cover the major world language families. The CAD provides detailed information on 80 languages and additional data on the history of the Austronesian (AN) languages. Adds that the CAD gives reliable citations in a broad…

Examines the phenomenon of semantic change with regard to color categories in closely related Mayan languages (Tzetal and Tzotzil) associated with radically different social milieux. It is argued that, although a model of individual cognition explains how color categories change at the basic level, a social model accounts for differences between…