This article discusses Nass-Gitksan, a native language of northern British Columbia. The basic syntactic structures of the language are presented, along with arguments to show that Nass-Gitskan is an ergative language both at the deep and the surface syntactic levels. (CLK)

A method of teaching question formation in the Chinese language by use of transformational grammar is described. (RM)

Explains techniques used in teaching the process of nominalization to foreign students at the Universite de Paris VIII, in reaction to common usage in the press. The techniques specifically do not use a generative grammar approach but apply principles of transformation for syntactical description. (Text is in French.) (MSE)

The authors of a previous paper on aspects of generalized phrase structure grammar respond to criticism of that paper and clarify elements in the discussion. The original paper addressed the problem of expressing relevant generalizations about the order of complements that a lexical item subcategorizes for. (MSE)

Noam Chomsky's theory of grammar, or more specifically his theory of syntax, proposes to describe all possible English sentences through an explanation of how the native speaker generates sentences. It is the study of one's competence that offers insights into how language is acquired and how the rules and generalizations of that language are…

A test of lipreading accuracy in relation to varying transformational content. (CH)

Semantic readings of genitive constructions in Akan are discussed in relation to the position that semantic operative rules operate on surface structure and that positing deep structures or semantic structures for associative (genitive) constructions is unnatural and unnecessary. (AM)

This study investigates the relationship between social class membership and certain syntactic variables within a generative-transformational linguistic framework. Fourteen syntactic items are considered. Linguistic performance is more variable and complex within the higher ranking groups. (TL)

The 'determiner' category was originally set up by structuralists for identifying nouns. The rewrite rule for 'determiners' in transformational generative grammar is inadequate for showing correspondences between type and token. An appraisal of quantity terms might eliminate the concept of the 'determiner,' and replace that category with one of…

The article outlines the need to eliminate rote-learning and pure imitative strategies in second language learning, particularly in the areas of syntax and semantics. Theoretical foundations for this need are discussed, with reference to the coding hypothesis for memory functions in language learning. Results of experimental investigations are…

Contradicts Pablo Jordan's theory that certain "se" constructions in Spanish are neither passive nor reflexive. It is claimed that syntactic evidence reveals two types of impersonal structures, the impersonal active and the passive reflexive. (Text is in Spanish.) (CK)

Event and factive causatives are distinguished. It is argued that ba-sentences in Mandarin Chinese are event causatives par excellence and that the ba and bei constructions, by deriving from the same underlying representation, can be shown to receive a unified account, if they are given a causative analysis. (Author/RM)

Part of the Grade Teacher special report, "Linguistics and the Language Arts.

A study examined the type of Wh question (those introduced by who, what, when, where, why, or how) and the phrase structure rules required for the verb phrase to determine how they relate to the acquisition and development of the Wh question transformation. Children ranging in age from 2 to 6 years were given three tasks, each containing 36…

In this essay, the cross cultural conflicts associated with linguistic problems are explored in terms of the development of linguistic theory from 1933 to the present. The linguistic code, positivism, the existential approach to sociolinguistics, linguistic solidarity, defining the situation, language and culture, and cross-cultural conflicts in…