JOURNAL OF THE LINGUISTIC
|
VOLUME 77, NUMBER 4 |
DECEMBER 2001 |
The heritability of language: A review and Karin Stromswold 647
metaanalysis of twin, adoption, and
Reconsidering prepositional polysemy Andrea Tyler & 724
networks: The case of over Vyvyan Evans
An event structure account of English Malka Rappaport Hovav 766
resultatives & Beth Levin
The pragmatics of obligatory adjuncts Adele Goldberg 798
& Farrell
Ackerman
Obituary:
Joseph Harold Greenberg William Croft 815
Reviews:
Embleton et al. (eds.): The emergence of the J. S. Falk 831
modern language sciences: Studies
on the transition from historical-
comparative to structural linguistics
in honour of E. F. K. Koerner
Foulkes & Docherty (eds.): Urban voices: J. L. Kallen 833
Accent studies in the British Isles
Dolezal & McCreary: Pedagogical lexicography Y. Tono 835
today: A critical bibliographical on
learners’ dictionaries with special
emphasis on language learners and
dictionary users
Lieberman: Human language and our J. Aitchison 837
reptilian brain: The subcortical bases
of speech syntax and thought
Neidle et al.: The syntax of American Sign G. Berent 839
Language: Functional categories and
hierarchical structure
Barbosa et al. (eds.): is the best good enough? D. T. Langendoen 842
Optimality and competition in syntax
Emmorey & Lane (eds.): The signs of language C. McKee 845
revisited: An anthology to honor Ursula
Bellugi and Edward Klima
Abstracts:
The
heritability of language: A review and metaanalysis of twin, adoption, and
linkage studies
Karin Stromswold
Some researchers argue that the ability to acquire and use language is largely the result of innate predispositions that are specific to language (the innateness hypothesis). If the innateness hypothesis is correct, these predispositions must be encoded for in our DNA. This article reviews more than one hundred genetic studies of language. The results of these studies strongly suggest that genetic factors play a role in the variation in the rate of language acquisition and linguistic proficiency attained by children and adults. Genetic factors account for much of the variance in linguistic abilities among people with written or spoken language disorders and some of the variance in linguistic abilities among normal people. In addition to heritable factors that influence both nonverbal and verbal abilities, there appear to be genetic factors that specifically influence linguistic abilities. Furthermore, some studies suggest that different genetic factors are involved in different aspects of language (e.g. written language vs. spoken language; lexical vs. syntactic abilities).
Reconsidering prepositional polysemy networks: The case of over
Andrea Tyler
Vyvyan Evans
This article explores lexical polysemy through an in-depth examination of the English preposition over. Working within a cognitive linguistic framework, the present study illustrates the nonarbitrary quality of the mental lexicon and the highly creative nature of the human conceptual system. The analysis takes the following as basic: (1) human conceptualization is the product of embodied experience, that is, the kinds of bodies and neutral architecture humans have, in conjunction with the nature of the spatio-physical world humans inhabit, determine human conceptual structure, and (2) semantic structure derives from and reflects conceptual structure. As humans interact with the world, they perceive recurring spatial configurations that become represented in memory as abstract, imagistic conceptualizations. We posit that each preposition is represented by a primary meaning, which we term a protoscene. The protoscene, in turn, interacts with a highly constrained set of cognitive principles to derive a set of additional distinct senses, forming a motivated semantic network. Previous accounts have failed to develop adequate criteria to distinguish between coding in formal linguistic expression and the nature of conceptualization, which integrates linguistic prompts in a way that is maximally coherent with and contingent upon sentential context and real-world knowledge. To this end, we put forward a methodology for identifying the protoscene and for distinguishing among distinct senses.
Malka Rappaport Hovav
Beth Levin
Current syntactic accounts of English resultatives are based on the assumption that result XPs are predicated of underlying direct objects. This assumption has helped to explain the presence of reflexive pronouns with some intransitive verbs but not others and the apparent lack of result XPs predicated of subjects of transitive verbs. We present problems for and counterexamples to some of the basic assumptions of the syntactic approach, which undermine its explanatory power. We develop an alternative account that appeals to principles governing the well-formedness of event structure and the event structure-to-syntax mapping. This account covers the data on intransitive verbs and predicts the distribution of subject-predicated result XPs with transitive verbs.
Adele Goldberg
Farrell Ackerman
The existence of obligatory adjuncts in both predication and modification constructions is best understood as following from general conversational pragmatics, rather than from grammatical factors. In the case of clausal predication, adjuncts are used to satisfy the often-cited requirement that every utterance have a focus that serves to convey new information in the discourse; adjuncts are just one of several ways in which the focal requirement can be satisfied. We argue that as a pragmatic constraint, the focal requirement is derived from Grice’s maxim of quantity or Horn’s R-principle. This allows us to account for the fact that while utterances do normally require a successful focus, there can be certain principled exceptions. The appeal to conversational maxims also allows us to account for the appearance of obligatory adjuncts within nominal modification structures, in which focus is not the relevant notion.
DeMiller: Linguistics: A guide to the reference literature A. S. Kaye 847
Rahman: Language, education and culture A. S. Kaye 847
Benmamoun (ed.): Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XII A. S. Kaye 848
Adger et al. (eds.): Making the connection: Language I. M. Laversuch 849
and academic achievement among African American
students
Ellis: Learning a second language through interaction M. Picard 850
Carter: Vocabulary: Applied linguistic perspectives, 2nd edn. Z. Salzmann 851
Mesthrie et al.: Introducing sociolinguistics Z. Salzmann 851
Burling: Learning a field language Z. Salzmann 852
Niemeier & Dirven (eds.): Evidence for linguistic relativity Z. Salzmann 853
Pütz & Verspoor (eds.): Explorations in linguistic relativity Z. Salzmann 853
Crystal: Language death Z. Salzmann 854
Peyton et al. (eds.): Language in action: New studies Z. Salzmann 855
of language in society: Essays in honor of Roger W. Shuy
Primus: Cases and thematic roles: Ergative, accusative G. Toops 855
and active
Obeng: Conversational strategies in Akan: E. J. Vajda 856
Prosodic features and discourse categories
Mugane: A paradigmatic grammar of Gĩkũyũ B. Wald 857
Bodomo: The structure of Dagaare B. Wald 858
Farber & Usón: Constructing a lexicon of English verbs B. Wald 858
Hewson & Bubenik: Tense and aspect in Indo-European B. Wald 860
languages: Theory, typology, diachrony
van Ostade et al. (eds.): Negation in the history of English B. Wald 861
Swiggers & Wouters (eds.): Ancient grammar: B. Wald 862
Content and context
Walsh: A short introduction to X-bar syntax M. Bauer 863
and transformation, 2nd edn.
Eatough: Central Hill Nisenan texts with grammatical sketch W. Bright 863
Gass & Mackey: Stimulated recall methodology in M. H. Ciscel 864
second language research
Dollerup: Tales and translation: The Grimm tales from T. L. Holm 865
pan-Germanic narratives to shared international fairytales
Polomé (ed.): Miscellanea Indo-Europea E. R. Luján 865
Cowie: English dictionaries for foreign learners: A history D. R. McCreary 866
Grodzinsky et al. (eds.): Language and the brain: C. V. Novaes 867
Representation and processing
Saeed: Somali G. Rubio 868
Denwood: Tibetan G. Rubio 868
Leslau: Ethiopic documents: Argobba grammar and dictionary G. Rubio 869
Sagart: The roots of old Chinese G. Rubio 870
Tazi: Arabismen im Deutschen: Lexikalische Transferenzen G. Rubio 871
vom Arabischen ins Deutsche
Diessel: Demonstratives: Form, function, J. F. Eska 871
and grammaticalization
Chamberlain et al (eds.): Language acquisition by eye Z. M. Jeries 872