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In this paper, we discuss the bare-NP complementation pattern of the Spanish verb tener have.' We show that the maximality of the complement NP is dependent upon three factors: (i) idiosyncratic valence requirements; (ii) encyclopedic knowledge related to possessions; and (iii) contextualized semantic construal. More speci®cally, we present evidence suggesting that whether such bare count-noun complements can be interpreted as maximal or not hinges on speci®c facets of world knowledge and morphosyntax: bare complement NPs that are usually possessed in numbers greater than one need a plural marker in order to be maximal; those that are usually possessed in quantities of only one need no such marking. This interpretation of the facts stands in direct contradiction with the Chomskyan notion of grammar as an autonomous module, isolated from general knowledge. Contrary to the autonomy thesis, we show here that encyclopedic-knowledge structures can play a signi®cant role in syntax. #
In this paper, we discuss the bare-NP complementation pattern of the Spanish verb tener have.' We show that the maximality of the complement NP is dependent upon three factors: (i) idiosyncratic valence requirements; (ii) encyclopedic knowledge related to possessions; and (iii) contextualized semantic construal. More speci®cally, we present evidence suggesting that whether such bare count-noun complements can be interpreted as maximal or not hinges on speci®c facets of world knowledge and morphosyntax: bare complement NPs that are usually possessed in numbers greater than one need a plural marker in order to be maximal; those that are usually possessed in quantities of only one need no such marking. This interpretation of the facts stands in direct contradiction with the Chomskyan notion of grammar as an autonomous module, isolated from general knowledge. Contrary to the autonomy thesis, we show here that encyclopedic-knowledge structures can play a signi®cant role in syntax. #
There is growing consensus among language planning scholars that, in developing languages such as those of Africa, there is a need for a deliberateeffort to effectuateand acceleratethe process of language intellectualisation.Intellectualisationof the African languages should be seen within the context of national development initiatives. This paper examines the situation in South Africa where the government is obliged by the Constitution to develop all official languages, especially the indigenous languages. Although all nine indigenous languages have been partially developed, that is, they have written forms, literary works, dictionaries and terminology lists, they are lagging far behind in the area of modern terminology as compared to the neo-colonial languages. During the apartheid regime, the indigenous languages were only important in so far as they served as tools for the division of the African people into conflicting and competing so-called ethnic groups. Despite many problems, with a clear national language policy and plan, intellectualisation in South Africa is more likely to succeed than in most developing countries. Research that is being conducted on strategies towards language intellectualisation provides a strong sense of optimism that this process of language intellectualisation will achieve increasing degrees of momentum, support and success.
Everett (2005) has claimed that the grammar of Pirahã is exceptional in displaying 'inexplicable gaps', that these gaps follow from a cultural principle restricting communication to 'immediate experience', and that this principle has 'severe' consequences for work on universal grammar. We argue against each of these claims. Relying on the available documentation and descriptions of the language, especially the rich material in Everett 1986, 1987b, we argue that many of the exceptional grammatical 'gaps' supposedly characteristic of Pirahã are misanalyzed by Everett (2005) and are neither gaps nor exceptional among the world's languages. We find no evidence, for example, that Pirahã lacks embedded clauses, and in fact find strong syntactic and semantic evidence in favor of their existence in Pirahã. Likewise, we find no evidence that Pirahã lacks quantifiers, as claimed by Everett (2005). Furthermore, most of the actual properties of the Pirahã constructions discussed by Everett (for example, the ban on prenominal possessor recursion and the behavior of WH-constructions) are familiar from languages whose speakers lack the cultural restrictions attributed to the Pirahã. Finally, following mostly Gonçalves (1993, 2000, 2001), we also question some of the empirical claims about Pirahã culture advanced by Everett in primary support of the 'immediate experience' restriction. We conclude that there is no evidence from Pirahã for the particular causal relation between culture and grammatical structure suggested by
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