Ik Qiþa Izwis--A Letter from the Managing Editor SpecGram Vol CXLVIII, No 1 Contents Grammatical Speculation: The Black Market in Ill-Gotten Morphemes--Alan (Sum) Greenspanner

The BS Default: A Reply To Luvver
by I. M. Shirley Wright

Luvver, in her brief article "The BS Node: Proof That Lines Can Cross", presents compelling evidence to support the claim that a sentence such as that given in (1) below is correctly diagrammed only if we are allowed to make recourse to a BS node.

(1)

The inescapable conclusion seems to be that we must allow lines to cross in tree diagrams. I propose an alternative. Consider, for a moment, the most basic truths of human discourse: might it make just as much sense to assume the assignment to the BS category as the unmarked condition? Then we need only link our trees to words which are other that the BS default, as in (2).

(2)

Thus is our prohibition against crossing lines saved.

Ik Qia Izwis--A Letter from the Managing Editor
Grammatical Speculation: The Black Market in Ill-Gotten Morphemes--Alan (Sum) Greenspanner
SpecGram Vol CXLVIII, No 1 Contents