Abstract
The canonical Subject-Verb order with intransitive verbs is sometimes regarded as ungrammatical and avoided in production by L2 learners of English (Hirakawa, 1995; Kellerman, 1978; Yip, 1995). Assuming that the phenomenon was limited to verbs that alternate in transitivity, Kellerman (1979) suggested a pragmatic account based on McCawley's (1978) theory of conversational implicature pertinent to such verbs. His account, however, not only has theoretical problems but also fails to capture the phenomenon in its entirety in the face of new data that show it affects non-alternating verbs as well. Despite the apparent resemblance, the phenomenon cannot be squarely equated with the extensively researched Avoidance, either (cf. Kamimoto, et al, 1992; Kleinmann, 1977; Schachter, 1974; Seliger, 1989). This paper argues that the phenomenon in question is a reflection of learning problems inherent in the non-native acquisition of English intransitive verbs and should be investigated in relation to other L2 phenomena such as the well-known overpassivization of unaccusatives (Balcom, 1997; Hirakawa, 1995; Oshita, 2000b; Yip 1995; Zobl, 1989).
