The Johnson graph J(v, k) has, as vertices, the k-subsets of a v-set V and as edges the pairs of k-subsets with intersection of size k − 1. We introduce the notion of a neighbour-transitive code in J(v, k). This is a vertex subset Γ such that the subgroup G of graph automorphisms leaving Γ invariant is transitive on both the set Γ of ‘codewords’ and also the set of ‘neighbours’ of Γ, which are ...

In this paper I argue that inflection class membership among the so-called ‘primary’ verbs in Lithuanian, which has always been considered to be extremely idiosyncratic, is at least partly predictable from the verb’s semantics. The most important semantic parameters responsible for inflection class assignment are agentivity of the verb’s highest ranking participant (thus most transitive and age...

Children demonstrate a clear understanding of transitivity by the time they are four years old, if not earlier (Pye 1983, Berman 1993, Brooks and Tomasello 1999). However, exactly how they achieve such a state is far from clear. First of all, there is a question of how they start the process of acquiring transitivity. One might think that intransitive verbs would be the first to be acquired, si...

Reciprocals are characterized by a crossover of thematic roles within a single clause. Their peculiar semantics often creates special argument configurations not found in other clause types. While some languages either encode reciprocals by clearly divalent, transitive clauses, or clearly monovalent, intransitive clauses, others adopt a more ambivalent solution. We develop a typology of valency...

This paper presents the author’s heretofore unpublished example of nonisomorphic transitive permutation representations with isomorphic integral permutation modules. Some positive results are also given. This paper is dedicated to the menory of Hans Zassenhaus. Let G be a finite group acting on finite sets R,R’. Recall that R z R’ as G-sets if and only if there is a 1-l correspondence between 0...

We consider the representation and processing of the English verb features tense, aspect and voice, within a computational cognitive model of human language processing. We assume that a collection of features is associated with each verbal element and that these features may project to the clauses in which they occur. When multiple verbal elements occur, it is possible for the features to confl...

A probabilistic causal chain ABC may intuitively appear to be transitive: If A probabilistically causes B, and B probabilistically causes C, A probabilistically causes C. However, probabilistic causal relations are only transitive if the so-called Markov condition holds. In two experiments, we examined how people make probabilistic judgments about indirect relationships AC in causal chains A...

Two experiments investigated how readers comprehend noun phrase (NP) arguments and adjuncts. Previous research suggested that argument phrases are processed more quickly than adjunct phrases (Clifton, Speer, & Abney, 1991; Kennison, 1999; Schütze & Gibson, 1999; Speer & Clifton, 1998). The present experiments investigated whether the type of verb in the sentence context could influence how NP a...

31 Theory on plant succession predicts a temporal increase in the complexity of spatial 32 community structure and of competitive interactions: initially random occurrences of early 33 colonising species shift towards spatially and competitively structured plant associations in 34 late successional stages. Here we use long-term data on early plant succession in a German 35 post mining area to d...