The goal of this thesis is to present a detailed study of the second language acquisition (SLA) of English aspect by native speakers of Slavic languages. A parameterized distinction between English and Slavic aspect is proposed, in order to account for the subtle differences between English and Slavic telic and alelic sentences. Thus the thesis opens a new area of parameter research in SLA and studies in depth the mental representation of aspect in interlanguage. / It is proposed that, the four aspectual classes of verbs (Vendler 1967), viz. accomplishments, achievements, activities and states, can be represented in four different phrase structure templates, projecting from the verb's lexical semantical structure and making reference to the properties of the object. It is argued that the four templates are language universals, and the parameterized distinctions between languages involve the syntactic positions of meaning-based primitive predicates like CAUSE, BECOME and BE (Dowty 1979). It is at this level that the English-Slavic contrast receives an explanation. / Based on the syntax-theoretical treatment of Slavic and English aspect, the them investigates the process of SLA of aspect in Slavic speakers at three levels of proficiency in English: low intermediate, high intermediate and advanced. L2 learners are found to be capable of resetting the aspectual parameter value to the English setting, thus successfully acquiring a property of language almost never taught in language classrooms. / The thesis also studies the acquisition of a cluster of constructions, which syntactic research relates to the English value of the aspectual parameter, and which have been found to appear together in the speech of English children (Snyder & Stromswold 1997): Double Objects, Verb-Particles and Resultatives. Results indicate that every one of these constructions forms part of this aspect-related cluster and that knowledge of aspect and knowledge of the cluster co-occur. / The results of the experimental studies bring new evidence to bear on the theoretical choice between direct access to the L2 value (Epstein, Flynn Martohardjono 1996, Flynn 1996) or starting out the process of acquisition with the L1 value of a parameter (Schwartz & Sprouse 1994, 1996), supporting the latter view.

It is widely recognized that differences in both prosodic complexity and position-sensitive contrasts exist both within and across languages. In contemporary phonological theory, these differences are often attributed to differences between heads and non-heads and the asymmetries in licensing potential that exist between such positions. / In this thesis, the consequences of such differences for the second language (L2) acquisition of prosodic complexity and position-sensitive contrasts are explored. It is argued that an explanatorily adequate account of L2 syllabification must include highly-structured representations as well as a theory of licensing, which distinguishes between the licensing of a given position and the licensing of featural content in such a position. Using data drawn primarily from a number of studies that investigate the acquisition of French by native speakers of English and Mandarin, it is demonstrated that the widely-attested interlanguage (IL) syllable-structure-modification processes of deletion, epenthesis, and feature change have a common source. Specifically, all three processes result from the IL grammar's inability to license a syllable position or (some of) the featural content present in such a position in the target representation. Within Optimality theory, the framework adopted, this is formalized through the competition between Faithfulness constraints and Markedness constraints, which evaluate the wellformedness of the licensing relationships. Finally, it is argued that Prosodic Licensing and the principle of Licensing Inheritance from Harris (1997) work together to encode prosodic markedness in representation, as they create a series of head-dependent asymmetries in which heads are strong licensors vis-a-vis their dependents.

Developmental Language Impairment (DLI) is a language disorder characterized by difficulties in both language production and comprehension most readily observable on the morphological level. Previous research suggests that DLI subjects are atypical regarding word decomposition and word formation. / Given these observations, two questions arise: What is the extent of DLI insensitivity to word-internal structure and to morpheme features? and Is this insensitivity equally evident in inflectional, derivational and compounding processes? Three experiments address these questions: plural formation, nominal compounding and diminutive formation and comprehension. / These word formation processes are very productive Greek and are observed from (2;0) onwards in non-impaired children cross-linguistically. Nominal roots (bound) are mapped to other bound morphemes: inflectional affixes for plural formation, derivational affixes and inflectional affixes for diminutive formation, and lexical morphemes and inflectional affixes for compound formation. / In this thesis, the performance of Greek DLI subjects was compared to that of non-impaired controls using elicited production and comprehension tasks that probed real and novel word formation. Results show that DLI children are not sensitive to morphological features and have difficulty knowing where root boundaries are. Given the atypical performance of DLI children, the initial hypothesis on the building of an atypical competence appears to be supported.

This thesis examines the influence of definiteness and movement on Mohawk free word order from the perspective of Government and Binding Theory. On the one hand, Mohawk data show that the relative order of NP's with respect to the verb does not determine definiteness and that the particle ne is not a definite determiner, the language lacking this type of "pure" marker for this feature, all of which contradicts previous claims. It is argued that pragmatic considerations will determine the interpretation of nominals. On the other hand, the evidence shows that there is no movement operation in the production of free word order in Mohawk, unlike in other scrambling languages. The evidence is accounted for by the fact that NP's are base generated in adjunct position (Baker 1991a) and coindexed with pro's in argument position which are licensed by the rich agreement morphology on the verb.

This thesis contains a critical review of the most important approaches to reported speech or those pertinent to it in the linguistic literature. Several problems concerning quotation parentheticals and presuppositions have been discussed and some solutions are proposed. The main issue, referred to as "the point of view", is worked out as an extension of the classical notion of transparency and opacity applied to NP, to several other elements of sentence structures. As a result, a set of interpretive rules are formulated which specify whether certain linguistic configurations promote a transparent or opaque interpretation of the sentence or part of it. Also, rules of correspondence are given which stipulate the conditions for semantic well formedness, in the case of omission of information.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 342-374). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 2006

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 307- 317).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Newcastle, 1999. / Department of Modern Languages. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 309-390). Also available online.

Research. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Computer Science and Software Engineering, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-170).