ABSTRACT
Human language is manifested primarily through the one-dimensional channel of speech, in which temporal order reflects certain linear relations among the parts of complex expressions. To a large extent, the linguist’s task is to uncover aspects of grammar not manifested in the patent linguistic signals. For instance, a little reflection shows that language is at least two-dimensional, if only because hierarchical relations matter. A string of words like she saw the man with binoculars corresponds to more than one expression; and John thinks he likes spinach differs from he thinks John likes spinach in ways that go beyond mere differences in the linear order of constituents. But how far should such reflections be pursued? Do adjuncts, for example, “inhabit a different dimension” from arguments? Do causative verbs like kill exhibit a “higher” dimensionality than adjectives like dead? Or are these just metaphors?
