On Mon, 10 Nov 1997 15:45:54 -0500 EDWARD VAVRA said:
>Since clause conjunctions do not always appear in
>surface structure, who is to say that they must exist in
>deep structure? And, if they do exist, how do they
>exist? For example, in the "since" vs. "because" query,
>in deep structure does the clause conjunction exist as
>a word (Which one?), an idea (causation), or as a
>function (subordination)? Aren't we getting into
>ontological arguments here? I'm not sure of how this
>applies to the high-school or undergraduate college
>classroom.
 
I think Ed raises an very interesting question: if something
is not on the surface, is it there at all?
 
All of the following sentences have the word "cut" in them.
Would we want to tell students that "cut" is the same in all those
sentence?
 
1) I cut my finger every time I slice onions.
2) Mary cut her finger.
3) Mary has cut her finger.
4) Mary will not cut her finger.
5) Mary could have cut her finger.
6) Mary does not want to cut her finger.
 
Bob Yates, Central Missouri State University, [log in to unmask]