A review of Language Development: Form and Function in Emerging Grammar by Lois Bloom. (DS)

Investigates the assumption that sentences comprise a presupposition and an assertion. The projection problem for presuppositions is reduced to a property of presuppositions; intersentential relations are systematized, dependent on presupposition and negation; certain syntactic structures and lexical items are analyzed in terms of these relations.…

JAPANESE HAS FOUR COMMONLY OCCURRING NEGATIVE FORMS WHICH CAN BE ORGANIZED INTO THREE DIMENSIONS OR CONTRASTS. THE DIMENSIONS ARE TENTATIVELY LABELED--EXISTENCE-TRUTH, INTERNAL-EXTERNAL, AND ENTAILMENT-NON-ENTAILMENT. AN EXAMINATION OF THE SPEECH OF ONE JAPANESE CHILD INDICATES THAT THE ORDER IN WHICH THESE DIMENSIONS ARE ACQUIRED IS THE SAME AS…

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)

Personal/impersonal negative sentence pairs in Russian are discussed. It is concluded that the structural differences in personal and impersonal negative sentences correspond to a difference in meaning: the absence of the object in general versus the absence of a given, specified object. (Author/RM)

Describes the contrasting structures of negation in French and in Hungarian. (AM)

Questions the current distinction between semantics and pragmatics, and develops a theory of "argumentative scales" (Ducrot 1973), as well as a semantic model with three components and a revision of the notion of "illocutionary." (Text is in French.) (CDSH/AM)

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)

Studies, using Mandarin Chinese as a test case: (1) the interaction of syntax and semantics when quantifiers and negatives co-occur; (2) the linear interpretation of quantifiers when the universal and existential quantifiers co-occur; (3) the logical relationship between them; and (4) the basic word order of existential sentences involving…

Examines the relationship of "ne" and its accompanying particles ("pas,""plus,""jamais,""personne," etc.) in the French negation system, with special reference to subject opacity. (AM)

Examines the distribution of the French "ne" in order to determine the difference between the expletive "ne" and the negative "ne." (AM)

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

"Bu" can negate noun phrases. This article attempts to determine what the parent structures are from which noun-bu-noun is derived, to describe the general property of N-bu-N, to examine the conditions under which N-bu-N is used, and to contrast it with other structures of similar usage. (Author/PJM)