Refutes the idea of traditional philologists that the syntax of Latin verbs of fearing is idiosyncratic. Maintains that these verbs are inherently negative in Latin, and they conform in every respect to the highest level of principles of semantic and syntactic behavior that operate throughout the language. (SL)

Research is reported investigating the processes involved in rejecting certain false categorical statements. (RM)

A critical analysis explores the strictly logical aspects and pragmatic claims of a presupposition and negation theory (Burton-Roberts, 1989). Other clearly relevant facts, not previously considered, are used to show that the theory preempted empirical issues on invalid a priori grounds. (23 references) (Author/CB)

A response to a critical analysis of a theory on presupposition and negation uses that critique's claims and proposed system to corroborate the original arguments and theory. (24 references) (Author/CB)

Research supported by fellowships from the Canada Council and the National Service Foundation. (DS)

Presents the results of a cross-linguistic study of the role of scope phenomena in untutored second language acquisition, or how adult learners in different source and target language settings acquire the means to express which part of an utterance is semantically affected by scope-bearing elements such scope particles or negation. (Author/VWL)

In discussing the views of leading linguistics on the specific features of Slavic negation, the author reviews mainly Czech material and compares it with Russian and English works. This paper is part of a larger work on negation in which it is argued that a language system is a dynamic system based on oppositions (with predominant binary…

English- and Japanese-speaking children aged four and five were asked to say the opposite of statements. Statements varied in truth value and unmarked/marked membership of antonym pairs. Findings did not support a universality hypothesis; differences were found between the two groups in the use of semantic and syntactic denial. (Author/CB)

Paper presented in part at the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Cleveland, Ohio, May 1972. (DD)

Research supported in part by a United States Public Health Service Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. (VM)

Acquisition of negation in Italian as a second language (L2) is investigated on the basis of the longitudinal data of five learners with different first languages in the framework of a functional approach focusing on the semantic and pragmatic principles governing the organization of learner varieties and the process of their complexification.…

Two groups of preschoolers and one of young grade-schoolers were tested for their comprehension of presuppositions and negation in complex syntax. Four types of sentences were presented: affirmative and negative versions of sentences with factive main predicates (which presuppose the truth of the proposition of the complement clause) and with…

Two experiments examined the comprehension of singly and multiply negated sentences. Difficulty of comprehension was measured by the speed and accuracy with which subjects judged the semantic reasonableness of sentences. Marked and negatively prefixed adjectives were a particular focus of the study. (Author/RM)

Modified version of a paper presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington, D.C., September 4, 1971. (VM)

Research supported in part by a graduate traineeship from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to the author and by a grant from the Advanced Research Project Agency to the Harvard University Center for Cognitive Studies. (VM)