I agree with you completely, Craig. What I perhaps neglected to say is that every mind is deeply embedded in a cultural context that influences the creation and expression of meaning. Decontextualizing syntactic structures makes perfect sense if one believes that that part of language processing is sequestered in specialized parts of the brain operating according to their own particular algorithms. Hence the desire to explain syntax on its own terms. But that's not the school of linguistics I subscribe to. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Johanna Rubba Associate Professor, Linguistics English Department, California Polytechnic State University One Grand Avenue • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 Tel. (805)-756-2184 • Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone. 756-2596 • E-mail: [log in to unmask] • Home page: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/