IN AGREEMENT WITH CHOMSKY, THE AUTHOR DISCUSSES SELECTIONAL RESTRICTIONS ON SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS BASED ON CRITERIA OF WHAT MUST OR CANNOT OCCUR IN THOSE SLOTS IN A SENTENCE. THROUGH AN ANALYSIS OF INTERDEPENDENCY RELATIONSHIPS, VARIOUS DEEP- AND SURFACE-STRUCTURE FEATURES ARE DISTINGUISHED CONCERNING TRANSITIVE VERBS AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THEIR LEXICAL/SEMANTIC ENVIRONMENTS. TWO TYPES OF VERBS--"SURPRISE" AND "TELL"--ARE TREATED IN DETAIL. IT IS FOUND THAT "SURPRISE" VERBS MAY APPEAR WITH ANIMATE SURFACE-STRUCTURE OBJECTS, BUT REQUIRE ANIMATE DEEP-STRUCTURE SUBJECTS, AND ARE INTERPRETED AS EITHER "INTENTIONAL" OR "ACCIDENTAL." MODAL ENVIRONMENTS SEEM TO BE INSTRUMENTAL IN DETERMINING THIS MEANING, AND APPARENTLY THE CONDITIONS THAT GOVERN THE INTENTIONAL-ACCIDENTAL DICHOTOMY ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE GOVERNING "FLIP" TRANSFORMATIONS (REVERSAL OF SUBJECT AND OBJECT) IN "SURPRISE" VERBS. "TELL" VERBS HAVE MORE NUANCES OF SEMANTIC INTERPRETATION, BUT GENERALLY MEAN EITHER "NOTIFY" OR "COMMAND." THEY REQUIRE ANIMATE SURFACE-STRUCTURE OBJECTS, AND DO NOT UNDERGO "FLIP" TRANSFORMATIONS. ONE GENERAL CONCLUSION IS THAT IF A VERB REQUIRES AN ANIMATE NOUN AS THE OBJECT IN DEEP-STRUCTURE, THE SUBJECT MUST ALSO BE ANIMATE. THE AUTHOR MAKES A PRELIMINARY CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH VERBS BASED ON THE RESTRICTIONS DISCUSSED. (FB)