The complex phonology of Slovak syllabic nuclei is studied from the twin perspectives of three-dimensional representation theory and Lexical Phonology. A variety of evidence is adduced to show the necessity of recognizing a distinct nucleus node in the internal structure of the syllable. It is also argued that Slovak syllabic nuclei are right-headed metrical structures. The well-known Slovak Rhythmic Law, shortening the first of two successive long syllables, is demonstrated to be a cyclic rule. It is argued that its cyclicity follows necessarily from the Lexical Phonology model.

The relationship of morphological structure to syntactic functions has received much recent attention (e.g. Anderson 1982, McCloskey & Hale 1984, Stump 1984, Sadock 1985, Bresnan & Mchombo 1987). The behavior of possessive suffixes (Px's) in Finnish sheds light on this issue. These are important syntactically; yet phonological, morphological, and semantic evidence shows them to be suffixes rather than clitics (i.e. elements found on words but not placed there exclusively by the morphology). They stand in striking contrast to the Finnish clitics, which by similar evidence must be word-external. The contrast is interpreted as a consequence of the integrity of the morphological word. To violate this integrity in analysing elements like the Finnish possessive suffixes would gravely weaken linguistic theory.

A fundamental goal of linguistic theory is to account for language acquisition. At the heart of the problem is the poverty of the stimulus, which underdetermines the hypotheses that children formulate. Generative grammar proposes that the form for expressing rules is innately constrained, and one putative constraint is structure-dependence. The present study subjected this proposal to an empirical test. In the first experiment, yes/no questions—amenable in principle to both structure-dependent and structure-independent analyses—were elicited from thirty 3- to 5-year-old children. A second experiment explored the nature of children's errors in Experiment 1. A third experiment contrasted a structurally-based account of the acquisition of interrogatives with one based on semantic generalization. The results of these experiments support Chomsky's contention that children unerringly hypothesize structure-dependent rules. Moreover, it was found that the rules which children invoke are formally insensitive to the semantic properties of noun phrases—a finding that supports the developmental autonomy of syntax.

Do native and native-like non-native (i.e. near-native) speakers develop essentially identical underlying grammars of the same language? Results of extensive interviews indicate that native and near-native speakers of French have strikingly different intuitions on French sentences. In particular, the two groups have markedly divergent interpretations of sentences involving basic grammatical contrasts such as the two past tenses (imparfait and passé composé), the 3rd person pronouns il and ce, and the placement of the adjective before or after the noun. This is so in spite of the fact that the two groups appear to be equivalent at the level of language use and proficiency. These results provide a clear illustration of the relative independence of the two levels of language: on the one hand, language use, and on the other hand, underlying grammar as reflected by speakers' intuitions. It is suggested that the specific nature of the divergences between native and near-native speakers' underlying grammars also provides clues to the internal organization of language: in particular, the data indicate that near-native speakers diverge less from native speakers in formal features, such as those currently covered by studies in Universal Grammar, than in ‘functional’ or ‘cognitive’ aspects of grammar.

All language is, to a varying extent, poetic. Investigating the relationship between conversational and literary discourse illuminates the workings of conversation. Past research suggests the pervasiveness of repetition, and its significance in questioning prior theoretical and methodological assumptions. Repetition functions in production, comprehension, connection, and interaction. The congruence of these levels provides a fourth, over-arching function in coherence, which builds on and creates interpersonal involvement. Examples illustrate the pervasiveness, functions, and automatic nature of repetition in taped, transcribed conversation—supporting a view of discourse as relatively pre-patterned, rather than generated. Repetition is a resource by which speakers create a discourse, a relationship, and a world.