vix.ing · top · new · best · stats

A structural principle of language and its implications

1973/03/01 by W. P. Lehmann · 378 citations
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · Psychology · #Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation #Natural Language Processing Techniques #Historical Linguistics and Language Studies #Linguistics #Psychology #Sociology #Philosophy

paper · doi:10.2307/412102

published in Language 49(1), 47-66 (Linguistic Society of America)

openalex publication_date 1973/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Sentence qualifier markers, like those indicating interrogation and negation, are placed before verbs in consistent VO languages, after verbs in consistent OV languages. This placement principle permits us to identify other sentence qualifiers, like potential, desiderative, and reflexive. It also provides means for distinguishing qualifier markers from congruence as well as deixis markers. Moreover, it has morphological and phonological implications, leading to so-called agglutinative structure. Besides contributing to our understanding of linguistic structure, this principle enables us to clarify some problems in the historical development of languages.

Cited by