Discusses the feasibility and advantages of developing an enhancement for document retrieval systems that would automatically impose Boolean syntax on an input set of search terms. An online specification for such an enhancement is presented, based on experimental results using the MEDLINE database. (13 references) (CLB)

Uses a quantified version of a syntactic acquisition hierarchy to compare syntactic development in second language learners to that of other components of grammar, particularly inflectional morphology. (CB)

Examines the syntactic aspects of code-switching from Egyptian to standard Arabic, as displayed in radio and television interviews and panel discussions. The process does not proceed randomly but is governed by principles dependent on switch position, type of category involved at the switch position, and language variety. (Author/CB)

Tested the comprehension of children aged 4-12 of double negation in Chinese. Young children interpreted double negation as simple negation. Only the oldest children consistently interpreted double negatives as equivalent to affirmative sentences. (SKC)

Relationships between syntactic and semantic aspects of mothers' speech and infants' word acquisition was examined in 27 mother-infant dyads. Results indicated that the more the mother differentiated the complexity of her speech to child and adult, the earlier the child attained 20 words. The more the mother used adult-basic labels in her speech,…

Presents an informal history and criticism of a rhetorical style that proposed a set of rules designed to pin words and syntax down so that a writer's meaning could not be misconstrued. Describes how the style was appropriated for textbook use by an innovative group of American writers during the mid-nineteenth century. (AEW)

Reviews literature pertaining to the subtle differences between the meanings of the particles "waw al-ma iyya" and "fa al-sababiyya," emphasizing their construction differences. (CB)

Discusses how current procedures for selecting/constructing equivalent texts may lead to error because of their specific limitations; proposes the utilization of micro-propositional analysis coupled with word-frequency lists and readability formulas for constructing "matching" texts; presents some procedures which researchers working in…

Examines speech samples from six children aged 2 years to 2 years, 5 months, with Mean Lengths of Utterance ranging from 2.93 to 4.14, were examined for evidence of six syntactic categories: determiner, adjective, noun, noun phrase, preposition, and prepositional phrase. (HOD)

Concludes that readers recall syntactic subjects very poorly. Suggests that to understand more precisely how readers represent such subjects in memory, new and rich models of language and of possible domains in text will be needed. (FL)

In a comparative study of American English speakers and British English speakers, it was examined whether segmental effects can be used in speech production as cues to syntactic structure. American speakers could use the segmental cues in syntax perception, while British speakers could not. Speakers of British English who were long-term residents…

Written and oral data were evaluated by native speaking judges to ascertain the extent to which they could identify the members of the same native language group on the basis of either phonological or syntactic evidence. Results are presented and other research data are examined to see if they support these findings. (SED)

Describes a study which examined the relationship between mother's speech and the rate of child syntax growth for 22 two-and-a-half-year-old children. Results suggest that linguistic experience does contribute to syntax development but that the relation between linguistic input and language growth is different for different domains of language and…

Discusses syntactic and stylistic errors in the language of advertising and the reason for these linguistic irregularities. Suggests ways of dealing with the problem. (EL)

Two studies were conducted to determine how well story grammar predicted recall of televised stories. In Experiment 1, prechoolers viewed a nonnarrated televised story from "Sesame Street." In Experiment 2, preschoolers and adults were administered a narrative via television or radio. In both studies, subjects' retention reflected recall…