It is well known that, in languages of the world, the passive expression is related to constructions such as reflexives and reciprocals. This paper pays special attention to the less familiar correlations of passives to spontaneous, potential, honorific, and plural formations; and it is argued that presently available characterizations of the passive are unable to offer explanations for these correlations. A satisfactory characterization must include a framework in which one can determine the nature of ‘pseudo-passives’, ‘impersonal passives’ etc. To achieve these goals, a prototype approach is adopted, and the passive prototype is defined. It is also shown that current controversies over whether passives should be analysed as promotional or demotional phenomena find a natural answer when a wider range of passive-related phenomena is examined.

The theoretical observation that certain types of pronominal differentiation are functionally related to certain types of transformational rules leads to a loose concept of a ‘functional component’ (independent of formal relationships), within which these two aspects of grammar play complementary roles. This complementarity is matched by an empirically observed inverse relationship in the functional values of the two from one language to another. By looking at the functional component as a whole (i.e. at a system rather than at individual elements), we arrive at an interesting new kind of universal.

The mental basis of linguistic intuitions is obscure, as regards their relationship both to other aspects of language behavior, such as speaking and listening, and to an hypothesized epistemological structure, such as a ‘grammar’. In the present study, we show that experimentally manipulated differences in mental state can systematically alter the linguistic intuitions which speakers render about sentences. These results indicate that the processes underlying intuitions cannot be ignored when they are used as empirical data to test grammatical theories.

‘Inner perception ... constitutes the ultimate and indispensable precondition for the other ... sources of knowledge. Consequently ... inner perception constitutes the very foundation upon which the science of psychology is erected’ (Brentano [1874] 1973:43) ... ‘If anyone were to mount a skeptical attack against this ultimate foundation of cognition, he would find no other foundation upon which to erect an edifice of knowledge. Thus, there is no need to justify our confidence in inner perception. What is clearly needed instead is a theory about the relation between such perception and its object ... such a theory is no longer possible if perception and object are separated into two distinct mental acts, of which the one would only be an effect of the other’ (ibid., 140).

This paper discusses the linguistic development of Genie, an adolescent girl who for most of her life underwent a degree of social isolation and experiential deprivation unparalleled in the reports of scientific investigation. This case touches on questions of profound interest to psychologists, philosophers, and linguists, including the relationship between cognition and language, the interdependence or autonomy of linguistic competence and performance, the mental abilities underlying language, proposed universal stages in language learning, the critical age for language acquisition, and the biological foundations of language.

Since the 6th century B.C., Jews have created unique variants of many coterritorial non-Jewish languages with which they came in contact; Aramaic, Greek, Arabic, Spanish, Persian, and German are just a few examples. Widespread shifts to non-Jewish languages throughout the world and to revived spoken Hebrew in Israel are now resulting in the obsolescence of contemporary Jewish languages and putting an end to 2600 years of Jewish language creation. The present paper proposes a typology of Jewish language phenomena, explores the common linguistic components and processes attending their genesis and development, formulates urgent research tasks in comparative Jewish in-terlinguistics, and assesses the contribution of Jewish language study to general linguistics.

This paper offers a critical review of a series of experimental studies of first-language acquisition of anaphora. These studies provide converging evidence that children acquiring English respect Principle C of the Binding Theory—specifically, a form of Principle C in which an r-expression is pronoun free. Principle C is respected continuously across overt syntax development (from 3 to 7 years). Although knowledge of Principle C interacts significantly with both directionality and pragmatic context, it is independent of these. Initial results on acquisition of anaphora in Japanese are also reported, suggesting that, subject to further research, early knowledge of Principle C may prove to be universal.