States the differences between the classes of structures that admit a progressive interpretation in English and Japanese and discusses progressive aspect in these two languages on the basis of proposed universally valid definitions. It is concluded that the contrastive behavior of the English "be-ing" construction and the Japanese…

Discusses and compares the meaning of epistemic uses of modals. Demonstrates that the relation between them is not as simple as has been frequently suggested. The article bases its observations on the data from a corpus of parallel French and English texts, pointing out that such a corpus can open new avenues for investigation of an old topic. (18…

The study discusses the position of the protolanguage in the hierarchy formed by idiolect, dialect, and diasystem. The article emphasizes that linguistic study contains a great many diachronic events and hypothesized synchronic features that are implausible, yet possible. (30 references) (CK)

Analyzes second language oral proficiency interviews, including a case study and a contrastive discourse analysis. Findings indicate that the case study interviews are conducted according to a procedural script and that oral proficiency questions formulated for the other interviews are based on the interactional discourse characteristic of…

Examines the dual mechanism hypothesis, which argues that the apparent contrast, in English inflectional morphology, between a rule-based default procedure, generating regular past-tense forms, and listed irregular forms stored in an associative net, reflects universal constraints on the properties of possible morphological systems. The study…

Points out that "pro"-drop languages have restrictions on the reference of "pro" not found with the overt pronomials of non-"pro"-drop languages. Notes that while the overt pronouns of non-"pro"-drop languages may take clausal antecedents, "pro" may not take these elements as linguistic antecedents. (24 references) (Author/CK)

Analyzes the rhetorical functions carried out by the selection of voice--active, passive, or "se"-passive--in biological research articles in Spanish. The author compares these rhetorical functions with those found in French and English scientific papers and on the basis of this comparison, suggests the existence of some universals. (18…

Two surveys conducted in the Soviet Union are reported that demonstrate the complicated interrelationship between linguistic form and meaning. They support Jakobson and Gorbacevic on gender signalling, particularly when the speaker is not certain of the noun in question. (Contains 44 references.) (LB)

Demonstrates the value of proverbs in developing the cross-linguistic understanding of professionals involved in intercultural situations. It is proposed that proverbs can provide insight into the symbol systems of English, Malay, and Arab cultures. (17 references) (Author/CK)

This study argues that both Shanghai and Taiwanese have a metrical system, that compound stress is left-headed in Shanghai and right-headed in Taiwanese, and that a tonal domain is a metrical one. The article explains some asymmetries between Shanghai and Taiwanese and maintains that metrical structure can be determined when data on phonetic…

An examination of the planned and unplanned production of 24 nonnative-speaking teaching assistants indicates that there is a greater difference between the 2 conditions in the degree of discourse marking than in grammatical accuracy. Findings suggest that explicit marking is a crucial element in the comprehensibility of nonnative-speaker…

A modified matched guise technique was used with 57 subjects to evaluate 14 recorded voices in 3 accent categories (broad, mild, hypercorrect). Some differences were found between native speakers and nonnative speakers, and the results pose questions in terms of the two distinct judgmental dimensions of solidarity and status. (60 references) (LB)

Forty hearing-impaired adults read and retold short stories, in either English or American Sign Language (ASL). Analysis indicated that there was more explicitness in ASL, with more importance placed on specification of instruments involved in an action. No significant story differences were found between subjects' stories and stories of…

Local inversion in English and Chichewa shows remarkable similarities that can be explained by hypothesizing the same underlying argument structures and principles for mapping argument structure roles into syntactic functions. However, profound typological differences between the two languages defy analysis within a widely assumed architecture of…

Presents a systematic comparison of the function of voice alterations in three genetically unrelated languages--Biblical Hebrew, Chinese, and English. It is shown that passive or passivelike function can be divided into a number of discrete functional types, each of which is associated with a certain combination of translation equivalents in the…