Skeptical Linguistic Essays

Paul M. Postal, New York University

Email: paul.postal@nyu.edu

Table of Contents

Chapters are available in PDF format.

Introduction

Part I: Studies in Linguistics

Chapter 1: A Paradox in English Syntax

Chapter 2: A Putatively Banned Type of Raising

Chapter 3: A New Raising Mystery

Chapter 4: Chromaticity: An Overlooked English Grammatical Category Distinction

Chapter 5: The Structure of One Type of American English Vulgar Minimizer

Chapter 6: The Openness of Natural Languages

Part II: Studies of Junk Linguistics

Chapter 7: Junk Syntax 1: A Supposed Account of Strong Crossover Effects

Chapter 8: Junk Syntax 2: 'There Remain a Few As Yet Unexplained Exceptions'

Chapter 9: Junk Ethics 1: Advances in Linguistic Rhetoric

Chapter 10: Junk Refereeing: Our Tax Dollars at Work

Chapter 11: Junk Ethics 2: The Most Irresponsible Passage

Chapter 12: Junk Reasoning 1: If It Doesn't Follow Automatically, then Its Pretty Much Got to at Least Virtually Follow, and If Not, Don't Worry, It Is Still Unquestionably Natural

Chapter 13: Junk Reasoning 2: '(Virtually) Conceptually Necessary'

Chapter 14: Junk Linguistics: The Bottom Line

Part III: Controlling the Words of Others

Chapter 15: Policing the Content of Linguistic Examples

References