Although linguistic behavior is in general guided by normative rules, it need not all be rule-guided. Also, rules of language differ in their degree of constitutivity, and hence, in their force of obligation. The so-called thematic rules are characteristically of a “weak” constitutivity, and often mere regularities of usage devoid of normativity. Their possible normativity is assessed in terms of contextual-pragmatic correctnees. The thematic organization of sentences illustrates particularly well the special relationship between rule and action, those areas of linguistic behaviour where normativity may shade off into spatiotemporality. From the methodological point of view, all this requires the investigation of thematic systems as mediated through action, and further, the combining of speakers' intuitive knowledge and of observation of actual linguistic behaviour.

The article contains a critical survey of Nordic umlaut research during the last thirty years. An attempt is made to evaluate the various contributions to this research which have been based, alternately, on structural generative phonological theory; in contrast to the earlier heavily datae-based research, recent work in this field has indeed been more exclusively theory- oriented. that the results of these ene deavors have on the whole not been commensurate with the effort; in spite of the evident optimism which, at certain times at any rate, has dominated this research, it apperars indeed that some of the traditional or classical problems of Nordic umlaut research tend to persist, or continually toreappear, in one guise or another, and thus to continue to defy a convincing solution.

A better understanding of problem of productivity of WERs is necessary not only to define the concept of a WEF, but also to find a “place” for the WF component in the model of generative grammar. The paper analyese one approach, in which the productivity is measured in terms of competence restrictions, on the basis of Nouns of Location in Polish. It is claimed that the productivity of a WFR is determined not only by relations of a base to an affix, but also by interrelations within the system of WFRs. A functional and/or formal conspiracy of WFRs may have an inhibitory and facilitatory effect on productivity. Thus, the concept of competence restrictions on the Productivity of WFRs developed so far is too narrow.