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The Integrational theory of language is the general theory of language that has been developed within the general linguistic approach of integrational linguistics.

Differently from most other approaches in linguistics, integrational linguistics emphasizes a distinction between theories of language and theories of language descriptions. Integrational linguistics has therefore developed both a general theory of language and a theory of linguistic descriptions, the integrational theory of grammars.

The integrational theory of language contains two major subtheories: (i) the integrational theory of linguistic variability, which is 'conflated' with (ii) the integrational theory of language systems.

One of the most distinctive features of the integrational theory of language is its adherence to ontological explicitness and constructiveness: the ontological status of every linguistic entity postulated by the theory is clearly determined (explicitness), and every entity is a logical or set-theoretical construct ultimately related to a small number of sets of basic entities that include, in particular, objects and events in space-time (constructiveness).

The integrational theory of linguistic variability

Linguistic variability
From its inception, IL has regarded linguistic variability, i.e. the changeability of languages along dimensions such as time, geographical space, social stratification etc., as an essential property of natural languages that has to be treated in any realistic theory of language; certain idealizations, such as Chomsky's 'completely homogeneous speech-community,' are rejected.

The Integrational Theory of Linguistic Variability thus aims at providing a theoretical framework for variation research (including studies in sociolinguistics, dialectology, and historical linguistics) and a basis for a realistic theory of language systems. The theory centers around the notion of 'idiolect,' in a specific sense of the term that avoids traditional problems: an idiolect is a homogeneous part of an individual speaker's share of a language (a speaker's total share of a language, called a 'personal variety,' is not an idiolect in this sense but is a set of idiolects). Such an idiolect, understood as an individual (linguistic) means of communication of a person during a certain period of time, simultaneously belongs to a certain period of the language, to a certain dialect, sociolect, register, medial variety, etc. A natural language (understood as a historical language during the entire span of its existence, or a period – a major temporal part – of a historical language) is construed as a set of idiolects, and each variety of the language is a subset of the language. Sets of idiolects (such as languages and their varieties) are called 'communication complexes.' The varieties of a language are given through its 'variety structure': a classification system whose source is the language itself.

Idiolects and idiolect systems
Ontologically, an idiolect is construed as a (possibly infinite) set of abstract sentences: form-meaning pairs consisting, in the case of a spoken rather than a written or signed idiolect, of a structured phonetic sound sequence and a meaning of this sequence. For each idiolect in a language, there is a system (idiolect system) that specifies which form-meaning pairs are elements of the idiolect. Every idiolect system consists of (technically: is an n-tuple whose components are) a phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexico-semantic, and sentence-semantic part; and each part determines a different type of properties that the form-meaning pairs must have in order to belong to the idiolect. In written idiolect systems, the phonetic and phonological parts are replaced by a graphetic and a graphematic part, in signed idiolect systems by a cheremic and a cherematic part. (There may be other components in addition to the ones listed above; the precise structure of idiolect systems is a matter of ongoing research.) The parts of an idiolect system are grouped into the sound system (script system, chereme system), the morpho-syntactic (or grammatical) subsystem, and the semantic subsystem of the idiolect system. (There is no pragmatic part or subsystem – 'pragmatic' properties of form-meaning pairs, as far as they are determined by the idiolect system itself, are covered by the semantic subsystem, or else indirectly by the idiolect's place in the variety structure.) Finally, a system for a language (or language variety) is a construct of properties shared by every system of every idiolect in the language (or language variety). Idiolects, varieties, languages, and their systems are all construed as extramental and abstract.

Systems of idiolects (idiolect systems) and systems for languages differ from each other both ontologically and in their relation to speakers' minds. Idiolect systems are n-tuples (as specified above) whereas language systems are sets of properties of such n-tuples. Moreover, for every idiolect that is a means of communication for a given speaker, there must be a (psychological and physiological) internal basis in the speaker that corresponds to a system of this idiolect, but there is no such internal basis for entire language systems. From an IL point of view, distinguishing between language systems, idiolect systems, idiolects (themselves no systems), and speaker-internal bases for idiolects is a cornerstone for a realistic theory of natural languages and language use.

A full representation of the Integrational Theory of Linguistic Variability and discussion of rival theories can be found in Lieb (1993); for the conceptions of languages and idiolects, see also Lieb (1983), Part A.

The integrational theory of language systems

General features
The Integrational Theory of Linguistic Variability is conflated with the Integrational Theory of Language Systems. The latter is concerned mainly with (i) making general assumptions on the properties of idiolect systems in arbitrary languages and (ii) developing a conceptual framework, and corresponding terminology, for their description.

The well-known problems in defining a truly universal terminology (applicable in the description of arbitrary languages) in the face of linguistic diversity are tackled in Integrational Linguistics by making a number of essential meta-theoretic distinctions, implicit in linguistic tradition but typically blurred in modern approaches.

Most importantly, a distinction is made between the definition of a term and the identification of corresponding linguistic entities in given idiolect systems. For example, terms such as 'phoneme,' 'suffix,' 'verb,' 'singular,' 'accusative,' etc. are construed not as categorial terms (denoting sets of linguistic entities) but as names of two-place relations ('is-a-phoneme-of,' 'is-a-suffix-of,' etc.) between linguistic entities and idiolect systems S (e.g., SLEEP is-a-verb-of SE, SCHLAFEN is-a-verb-of SG, where SE and SG are, respectively, an English and a German idiolect system: one and the same relation [is-a-]verb[-of] holds between SLEEP and SE, SCHLAFEN and SG, etc.). Names for categories of a given idiolect system are then derived from such relational terms: the expression 'verb of SE' denotes the set of all verbs of SE (a category), i.e., denotes the set of all linguistic entities that are related to idiolect system SE by the relation [is a ]verb[ of]. While the relational term 'verb' is defined in the Integrational Theory of Language Systems so as to allow for arbitrary idiolect systems, the corresponding categories (verb in SE, verb in SG, etc.) must be identified in a grammar for individual idiolect systems, and the identifying properties may vary greatly among the systems of idiolects in different languages or even within a single language. It is a task not of a general theory of language but of theories of individual languages or language varieties – e.g., of individual grammars – to formulate identifying properties for the entities (categories, etc.) postulated for the idiolect systems of a given language (or variety). (Consider, for instance, a language in whose idiolect systems S all infinitive forms of verbs – and only such forms – have a certain prefix, giving rise to an identifying property for the category infinitive-in-S in the idiolect systems of this language. Clearly, this criterion should not be used to define the term 'infinitive' in a general theory of language.) Given this distinction, a term like 'verb' may be defined by means of word- or sentence-semantic criteria; the syntactic nature of the corresponding categories in individual idiolect systems is still guaranteed by the fact that the categories can be identified by resort to the syntactic means of the idiolect systems (morphological marking, word order, intonation) and, possibly, properties of lexical meanings. Defining a term in a general theory of language does not, however, imply that there are corresponding entities in all idiolect systems (for instance, we can formulate a general definition of 'adjective' although there may be languages without adjectives).

The elements of a category in a given idiolect system may, and usually will, have additional relevant properties not needed for identifying the category. (In the above example, the infinitive forms may show certain tense distinctions.) Such properties must still be included in a complete characterization of the category. Finally, each entity proposed by a general theory of language or by a theory of an individual language, variety, or idiolect should also be justified by metatheoretic considerations. Consider, for example, the set of all adjective forms of a given English idiolect system whose sound sequences start with /bl/. Such a set should hardly be postulated as a syntactic category of this idiolect system, even though the set would easily be identified, and a corresponding term would easily be defined.

From an IL point of view, distinguishing between the definition of a term, the identification and characterization of a corresponding entity in an individual idiolect system, and the justification for postulating such an entity in a theory of a specific language, is a prerequisite both for formulating a general theory of language (one of the main goals of linguistics) and for successfully integrating theories of individual languages or language varieties with such a theory. Integrational Linguistics appears to be the only modern approach to explicitly adopt the fourfold distinction between definition, identification, characterization and justification, implicit in Western linguistic tradition with its insistence on the semantic definition of many general terms used in identifying syntactic entities as described in individual grammars. — For a detailed discussion of the underlying metatheoretic principles, see, in particular, Budde (2000): chapter 1; for an application in a general theory of parts of speech, using German for orientation, see Budde (2000): chapters 2–10.

Reflecting the basic structure of spoken idiolect systems (see above), the Integrational Theory of Language Systems comprises Integrational Phonology, Integrational Morpho-Syntax (with Integrational Morphology and Integrational Syntax), and Integrational Semantics (Integrational Lexical Semantics, including morpho-semantics and word semantics, and Integrational Sentence Semantics). For medial types of idiolect systems other than the spoken one, suitable subtheories – corresponding to Integrational Phonology – are provided for but have not yet been worked out in detail (Integrational Graphematics for written, Integrational Cherematics for signed idiolect systems).

The most detailed representation to date of the Integrational Theory of Language Systems as a whole (excluding Integrational Phonology) is found in Lieb (1983): parts B to F); for Integrational Syntax see also Lieb (1993), for Integrational Semantics Lieb (1979, 1980, 1992). Integrational Phonology (the last component of the theory to be developed) is presented in Lieb (1998, 2008). For major applications of IL in linguistic description, see, for example, Richter (1988), Moltmann (1992), and Eisenberg (1998/1999), concentrating on German; Sackmann (2004) for Mandarin Chinese; see also the contributions in Sackmann (ed.) (2008). The conception of (morphological and syntactic) paradigms, fundamental in IL, has recently been further elaborated in Lieb (2005).

Integrational phonology
Integrational Phonology is a 'declarative' two-level phonology that postulates two distinct levels (or 'parts') in the sound system of any idiolect system, a less abstract phonetic and a more abstract phonological one. Phonetic and phonological sounds are both conceived as sets of auditory properties of speech-sound events, hence, as abstract real-world entities. (Speech-sound events are concrete entities, located in space-time.) Phonological sounds differ from phonetic ones by a higher degree of abstraction: While sounds on the phonetic level (i.e., part) of an idiolect system contain all properties that characterize normal utterances of entities of the idiolect system, phonological sounds contain only those properties that are functional in the idiolect system, i.e., are relevant with respect to distinctions in the morphological, syntactic, or semantic parts of the system.

Phonological words and morphs (on the phonological level) as well as phonetic words (on the phonetic level) are construed as 'structured sound sequences,' that is, ordered pairs consisting of (1) a phonetic or phonological sound sequence (called the 'basis' of the morph or word) and (2) a phonetic or phonological structure of the sound sequence – itself a pair of (2a) a constituent structure and (2b) an intonation structure of the sound sequence. ('Sequence' is understood in the Integrational Theory of Language in a specific, set-theoretical sense that allows for the limiting cases of empty and one-member or 'unit sequences.') The constituent structure relates parts of the sound sequence to one of the sound categories Vocalic-in-S, Consonantal-in-S, and VocalicGroup-in-S, thereby determining a syllable sequence (possibly empty) for the sound sequence. The sound categories (simultaneously belonging to the phonetic and the phonological level) are uniformly construed as sets not of individual sounds but of sound sequences of the idiolect system, allowing a treatment of affricates and long consonants (elements of Consonantal-in-S), diphthongs and long vowels (elements of Vocalic-in-S) and the like alongside simple vowels and consonants. The intonation structure assigns sets of 'auditory values' (pitches, degrees of loudness, phonation modes etc.) to the syllables of a (syllabic) sound sequence identified by the constituent structure. Prosodic phenomena in both accent languages and tone languages are then treated in a unified way: differences of tone or stress are represented through sets of auditory values directly within a specific component of a phonological word, namely, the phonological intonation structure, which is properly linked to the (syntactic) intonation structures of syntactic units in which the phonological word occurs; and tone languages differ from accent languages mainly in the way phonological intonation structures are 'processed' in syntactic intonation structures. The constituents of a structured sound sequence are connected through phonological relations (p-nucleus, p-complement, p-modifier).

The phonetic-phonological properties of an idiolect system are to a large degree determined by the way sound sequences combine to form more complex ones, and the way phonetic sound sequences are related to phonological ones. There is a 'connection function' on the phonological level that takes pairs of structured sound sequences and assigns to each pair another such sequence, and a 'connection function' on the phonetic level that takes such pairs and assigns to each pair a set of structured sound sequences. Both levels are connected through a 'variant relation' relating structured phonetic sound sequences to structured phonological sound sequences. While the two connection functions jointly represent the 'phonotactics' of the idiolect system, the variant relation is only partly analogous to the 'allophone' relation in structuralist phonology and avoids its problems (treatment of diphthongs, affricates etc.) by connecting structured phonetic with structured phonological sound sequences instead of connecting individual sounds. Phonetic variants of a complex structured phonological sound sequence may be determined not only phonetically but also phonologically, by underlying sequences on the phonological level. The variant relation is postulated as a third component of the sound system of an idiolect system, in addition to its phonetic and phonological parts.

Integrational syntax and morphology
Integrational Syntax is akin in spirit to Lexical Functional Grammar, notwithstanding basic differences, and includes essential ideas of Valency Grammar. Among modern approaches to syntax, Integrational Syntax may well be closest to the grammatical tradition as it has developed in the West since antiquity. In particular, Integrational Syntax is Word-and-Paradigm, an orientation that has recently been gaining followers also elsewhere in linguistics. Integrational Syntax is a surface syntax: no 'deep structures' and no empty syntactic units or categories are allowed; true, an 'empty phonological word,' properly defined, is assumed for the treatment of phenomena such as ellipsis, and the empty sequence is used to deal with so-called optional complements. Integrational Syntax is also a 'syntax as a basis for semantics' in the sense that every meaning of a complex syntactic unit is obtained from the lexical meanings of its primitive meaningful parts on the basis of one of its structures. (The nature of lexical meanings is specified in Integrational Lexical Semantics, while ontological questions regarding syntactic meanings and the details of syntactic-semantic meaning composition are treated in Integrational Sentence Semantics.)

Among the syntactic entities postulated in Integrational Syntax for the syntactic part of arbitrary idiolect systems, there are: syntactic base forms, syntactic units, syntactic paradigms, lexical words, syntactic categories (either syntactic unit categories or word categories), syntactic structures, and syntactic functions.

A syntactic unit of an idiolect system is a sequence of syntactic base forms. (Again, unit sequences, but not the empty sequence, are allowed as a limiting case of syntactic units, that is, a syntactic unit may contain a single syntactic base form.) In a system of a spoken idiolect, the syntactic base forms are precisely the phonological words occurring in the phonological part of the system (analogously, for systems of written and signed idiolects).

It is an essential feature of Integrational Syntax that a clear distinction is made between lexical words and forms of lexical words (called 'syntactic word forms' or simply 'syntactic words'): every lexical word is an ordered pair consisting of a syntactic paradigm or 'word paradigm' (the form component of the word) and a concept that is a meaning of the paradigm (the meaning component of the word); a syntactic paradigm is a (non-empty) set of pairs, each consisting of a syntactic word form and a 'categorization' of the word form, that is, a set of syntactic categories such that the word form is an element of each category in the set; and any syntactic word form is also a syntactic unit, hence, a sequence (possibly, a unit sequence) of syntactic base forms (phonological words in the case of spoken idiolects). A given syntactic word form may combine with several categorizations within a single paradigm (syncretism); and a single paradigm may have a number of different meanings (polysemy), which leads to the same number of different lexical words (identical in their form components). Both the notion of paradigm and the notion of concept are generalized so as to allow for lexical words also where traditionally one would not speak either of a paradigm or of a lexical meaning.

Given the distinction between syntactic units (including syntactic word forms) and lexical words, two main types of syntactic categories are postulated for the syntactic part of any idiolect system. Type 1 syntactic categories (also called 'syntactic unit categories') are sets of syntactic units of the idiolect system, and include the syntactic constituent categories as well as word form categories like cases, numbers, tenses, and definiteness categories. The type 1 syntactic categories of an idiolect system are given through a classification system (a system of cross- and sub-classifications) on the set of all syntactic units of the idiolect system, called the 'Syntactic Unit Ordering.' Type 2 syntactic categories (also called 'word categories') are sets of lexical words. They include the 'parts of speech' of the idiolect system and their subcategories. The type 2 categories are given by the 'Lexical Word Ordering', a classification system on the set of all lexical words of the idiolect system. Both the Syntactic Unit Ordering and the Lexical Word Ordering are components of the syntactic part of an idiolect system.

Any syntactic unit can be assigned at least one syntactic structure. The syntactic structures of a unit are to jointly represent all formal information (including intonation) that is relevant with respect to the syntactic meanings of the unit. This is achieved by construing the syntactic structures of a syntactic unit as triples consisting of (i) a constituent structure, (ii) a marking structure, and (iii) an intonation structure of the unit. The constituent structure identifies constituents of the unit by associating certain parts of the unit with syntactic constituent categories like Noun form, Verb form, Verb Group etc., and captures the positions of syntactic base forms within the unit. The formal conception of constituent structures developed in IL allows for easy surface treatment of discontinuous constituents (whose proper treatment was a key motivation, in early Generative Grammar, for deep structures) and avoids any restriction to binary branching with its well-known empirical problems. The marking structure contains additional categorial information beyond what is provided by the constituent structure. Each primitive constituent of the syntactic unit, that is, each occurrence of a form of a lexical word in the unit, is assigned a 'marking': a set of pairs each consisting of two sets of categories. The first set contains syntactic unit categories of which the word form itself is an element; more specifically, the set is identical with a categorization the word form has in the paradigm of a lexical word to which the word form belongs; if the word form has several categorizations in the paradigm, then all these categorizations appear as first components of pairs in the marking of the primitive constituent, thus, the marking has several elements. The second set contains word categories (in particular, government categories) characterizing the lexical word itself. Finally, the intonation structure is a sequence of modified intonation structures of the syntactic base forms occurring in the syntactic unit. The syntactic intonation structure is crucial for syntactic accents and for the distinction of sentence types (as far as this is based on intonation patterns).

Traditional grammatical relations such as subject, object, attribute, etc. are reconstructed in Integrational Syntax as functions ('grammatical functions') taking 'syntactic quadruples' as their arguments. Each quadruple consists of (i) a syntactic unit (or concatenation of units) of an idiolect system, (ii) a syntactic structure the unit or concatenation has in the system, (iii) an assignment of lexical meanings to the primitive constituents contained in the unit given the structure and the system (called a 'lexical interpretation'), and (iv) the system itself. The values of such grammatical functions are two-(or more)-place relations among constituents of the syntactic unit. (Grammatical functions are only one type of 'constituent functions,' which also include 'scope functions' like negation and qualification, and 'phoric functions' like antecedent; and there are other types of syntactic functions besides the constituent functions.) Syntactic functions play a central role, via their semantic content, in the composition process by which syntactic meanings of a syntactic unit are constructed from the lexical meanings of its primitive constituents. Incorporating features of Valency Grammar, Integrational Syntax construes subject and object functions as derived from more basic complement functions that simultaneously cover all complements of a single verbal nucleus; it generalizes the notion of valency to arbitrary lexical words, excluding purely auxiliary words.

This reconstruction of traditional conceptions, which distinguishes between (universal) syntactic functions on the one hand and their values for individual syntactic quadruples on the other, again allows to formulate general definitions for the names of syntactic functions in the Integrational Theory of Language and to identify their occurrences in the syntactic units of specific idiolect systems by statements in a grammar. Such identification, relative to the syntactic structure and lexical interpretation contained in a given syntactic quadruple, typically depends on the marking structure more than on other components of the syntactic structure, or the lexical interpretation. In particular, government categories, given through classifications in the Lexical Word Ordering and contained in the marking structure, are crucial to identifying the values of the complement functions relative to the syntactic quadruple. Type 1 categories, contained in the marking structure, may also play a role in the identification of syntactic function values. For example, the identification of subject constituents as opposed to object constituents may depend on case categories (cf. German Der Kellner [NOM] mochte sie. 'The waiter liked her.' vs. Den Kellner [ACC] mochte sie. 'The waiter she liked.').

Integrational Morphology, concerned with the analysis of phonological words (and other medial types of syntactic base forms) into meaningful parts, is largely analogous to Integrational Syntax. The morphological entities postulated for any idiolect system are morphological base forms, units, paradigms, categories, structures, and functions as well as lexemes. Morphological base forms (morphs) are entities of the same ontological type as syntactic base forms, structured phonological sound sequences in the case of a spoken idiolect; morphological units are sequences of morphological base forms; and 'lexemes' are conceived as ordered pairs consisting of a morphological paradigm and a concept that is a meaning of the paradigm, similarly to the lexical words in syntax. For any syntactic base form there is a 'morphological analysis': a pair consisting of a morphological unit and a morphological structure of the unit. A morphological unit that is the first component in an analysis of a syntactic base form is a 'morphological word.' A morphological structure of
a morphological unit is a triple consisting of a morphological constituent structure, marking structure, and intonation structure. Two main types of morphological categories are assumed. Type 1 morphological categories (also called 'morphological unit categories'), given through the 'Morphological Unit Ordering' of an idiolect system, are sets of morphological units; they include morphological constituent categories, maximally, Stem form, Affix form, and Stem Group, as well as possible subcategories of Stem form and Affix form. Cross-linguistically, there must be stem forms in the idiolect systems of any language whereas the categories Affix form and Stem Group need not occur. Type 2 morphological categories ('lexeme categories') are sets of lexemes and are given through the 'Lexeme Ordering' of the idiolect system. They include the top-level lexeme categories Stem and Affix (comparable to the parts of speech in syntax) and their subcategories. Morphological functions (e.g., morphological complement, modifier, and nucleus) are comparable to grammatical functions in syntax in taking 'morphological quadruples' as their arguments and assigning relations among morphological constituents as values. They figure, via their semantic content, in morphosemantic meaning composition.

The lexicon of an idiolect system is construed as a pair consisting of the lexeme lexicon and the word lexicon. The former is the set of all lexemes (hence, the source of the Lexeme Ordering), and the latter is the set of all lexical words (hence, the source of the Lexical Word Ordering), of the idiolect system.

Integrational semantics
Integrational Semantics treats lexical meanings (i.e., meanings of morphological or syntactic paradigms and their forms) as entities entirely different from syntactic meanings (meanings of simple or complex syntactic constituents obtained through syntactic meaning composition). Consequently, meaning composition, too, is construed differently for lexical and for syntactic meanings. Integrational Lexical Semantics (with Integrational Morphosemantics and Integrational Word Semantics as its parts) combines the psychological and the realist traditions in semantics. Lexical meanings are construed as concepts in a psychological sense: an n-place concept (with n > 0) is the property of being a (human) perception or conception in whose content a certain non-empty set of n-place attributes of real-world entities occurs as a subset. The set of attributes is called the (n-place) intension of the concept, and the set of real-world entities that have all attributes is called its (n-place) extension. The extension but not the intension may be empty. In the case of a 1-place concept, the attributes in the intension are properties, and the extension is a set of individual real-world objects. If n > 1, the attributes are n-place intensional relations between real-world entities, and the extension is the set of n-tuples of real-world entities among which the n-place relations in the intension hold. Such 'relational concepts' typically occur as lexical meanings of verbs and adpositions (prepositions, etc.) but also of other kinds of relational words. The only concept for which the notions of intension and extension are not defined is the (0-place) 'empty concept,' occurring as the meaning component of lexical words such as auxiliaries and modal particles, and of all affixes, that is, of linguistic entities whose contribution to meaning composition is not based on lexical meanings. Given the notion of empty concept, the IL conception of concepts is both flexible and powerful enough to assign meanings to lexical words of any kind.

A conception is a mental state, and a perception a mental event, located in the brain of an individual. By identifying concepts not with such mental entities but with (extra-mental) properties of mental entities, Integrational Lexical Semantics can account for the potential intersubjectivity of concepts, a problem that any psychological meaning conception must face: while perceptions and conceptions are tied to an individual, a concept may well be a property shared by perceptions or conceptions located in different individuals.

Lexical meaning composition is based on morphosemantic composition functions whose arguments
are (n-tuples of) concepts and whose values are again concepts. Such semantic functions occur in
the semantic content of morphological functions such as morphological complement, modifier, and nucleus, and operate on the basis of (morphological or semantic) application conditions.

In Integrational Sentence Semantics, sentence meanings are construed as intensional relations between potential utterances and potential speakers. For any syntactic unit that has a sentence meaning, the meanings of the unit jointly represent a necessary condition for successful utterances of the unit. Each (simple) sentence meaning consists of at least (i) a referential part: a set containing exactly one 'referential meaning' for each referential expression of the syntactic unit; (ii) a propositional part: a pair consisting of a directive part (determining a speech act type) and a proposition; and (iii) a propositional background, consisting of what the speaker co-expresses with the proposition. The referential part and the propositional background of a sentence meaning may be empty.

Syntactic meaning composition is based on semantic composition functions associated with (i) the syntactic functions in an idiolect system, by the 'syntactic function interpretation,' (ii) with syntactic categories like tense or definiteness categories, by the 'syntactic category interpretation' (both are components of the sentence-semantic part of the idiolect system). Syntactic meaning composition starts from the lexical meanings of the primitive constituents in a syntactic quadruple: 'basic syntactic meanings' are pairs of a concept, assigned to a primitive constituent by the lexical interpretation, and a 'contextual embedding' of the concept that involves potential speakers and utterances. Next, basic syntactic meanings are transformed into 'intermediate syntactic meanings' for non-primitive constituents by means of syntactic-semantic composition functions that are associated in the idiolect system with syntactic functions such as complement and modifier. Finally, the intermediate (and, possibly, basic) meanings are further processed by semantic functions that are associated with the syntactic nucleus function, so as to yield 'complete syntactic meanings,' which are either referential meanings or sentence meanings.

It appears that Integrational Sentence Semantics combines the meaning-as-use tradition in seman-
tics (relating sentence meanings to speakers and utterances) with features of the psychological tradition (lexical meanings as concepts in a psychological sense, speaker attitudes as essential to sentence meanings) and with features of the realist tradition (e.g., extra-mental status of lexical and of syntactic meanings, the compositionality principle for complex meanings).

References

Further reading
 Lieb, Hans-Heinrich. 1983. Integrational Linguistics. Vol. 1: General Outline. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: Benjamins. (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 17).
 Lieb, Hans-Heinrich. 1992. "Integrational Linguistics: Outline of a theory of language". In: Hans-Heinrich Lieb (ed.). Prospects for a New Structuralism. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: Benjamins. (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 96.) 127–182.
 Lieb, Hans-Heinrich. 1992. "Integrational Semantics: An integrative view of linguistic meaning". In: Maxim Stamenov (ed.). Current Advances in Semantic Theory. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: Benjamins. (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 73). 239–268.
 Lieb, Hans-Heinrich. 1993. "Integrational Linguistics". In: Joachim Jacobs, Arnim von Stechow, Wolfgang Sternefeld, and Theo Vennemann (eds). Syntax: Ein internationales Handbuch zeitgenössischer Forschung / An International Handbook of Contemporary Research. Vol.1. Berlin etc.: de Gruyter. (= Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft 9.1). 430–468.
 Lieb, Hans-Heinrich. 2008. "The case for two-level phonology: German Obstruent Tensing and Nasal Alternation in French". In: Robin Sackmann (ed.). Explorations in Integrational Linguistics: four essays on German, French, and Guaraní. (Studies in Integrational Linguistics, 1). Amsterdam; Philadelphia: Benjamins. (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 285). 21–96.

Grammar frameworks
Theories of language


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It takes difficult topics, like budgets and guests lists, and breaks them down into really simple steps. Planning a wedding can definitely feel like a big undertaking because there are so many decisions to be made. For the cost-conscious modern couple and fans of The Budget Savvy Bride comes The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer--a wedding planner to help you stop splurging and start saving on your big day. The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer is a must read item for every engaged couple on a budget! For the cost-conscious modern couple and fans of The Budget Savvy Bride comes The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer—a wedding planner to help you stop splurging and start saving on your big day. Worried about staying on schedule? Making sure your wedding goes without a hitch is overwhelming—especially with the added pressure of staying on budget. Personal Style These questions will help you identify some of the personal style and aesthetic choices of your big day.
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Beschikbaar op 06-02-2018 Platform order number Bol. Making sure your wedding goes without a hitch is overwhelming-especially with the added pressure of staying on budget. Sample budgets and real wedding examples bring it to life. For the cost-conscious modern couple and fans of The Budget Savvy Bride comes The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer—a wedding planner to help you stop splurging and start saving on your big day. It even has pockets to hold notes, receipts and business cards. Co-authored by a photographer, bridal stylist, and international destination wedding planner, this wedding planning book highlights six romantic wedding venues worldwide—from Paris to Barbados—with no shortage of beautiful wedding inspiration. Making sure your wedding goes without a hitch is overwhelming? Relive their fairytale-worthy day and ongoing love story with this keepsake royal wedding photo album, chock full of full-page images of the venue and Meghan's dresses, among many other details.
If you're as obsessed with the iconic nuptials as we are, take a cue from all the royal pomp and circumstance and channel the in your own wedding. I'm getting married this July 21, 2018, so it was perfect timing that this book was just published. As a bonus, you can sync your Guest List Manager and wedding website to update everything at once. What should I look for in a good wedding photographer? Etiquette experts Anna and Lizzie Post ensure you leave everyone smiling by addressing how to handle awkward family situations, blend traditions and tactfully craft your. I am planning a wedding and we're not hiring a wedding planner. We like to keep things fresh. Blank pages decorated with romantic, animal-infused watercolor prints leave plenty of space to jot down important notes related to your registry, menu, and bridal party, and you can even put your own love story in writing.
From the things no one will tell you about being engaged to how to keep on top of your budget including coordinating online resources like downloadable templates , this book will help make sure the only surprises you have during the planning process are the good kind. Think of her as your voice of reason when deciding what you read: not your mother-in-law actually want for your wedding, choosing décor realistically and determining what crafts are best left to the pros. Making sure your wedding goes without a hitch is overwhelming—especially with the added pressure of staying on budget. Still one of the few books of its kind in the wedding market, 2Brides 2Be is exactly what you need. Having a wedding on a budget this huge list of free samples for weddings wedding freebies will help you save big to plan the perfect budget wedding. For the cost-conscious modern couple and fans of The Budget Savvy Bride comes The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer? Storied Weddings meshes planning tools and wedding inspo for an all-inclusive guide to your big day. A practical wedding planner, The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer contains:Planning Tools including checklists, worksheets, calendars, and other interactive toolsInsider Tips and need-to-know advice about how to navigate wedding industry traps from an experienced wedding plannerReal Budgets from real couples, plus cost breakdowns for every part of your ceremonyFrom the ceremony to the reception, The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer is the only wedding planner you'll need to have the wedding of your dreams on a reasonable budget.
She tackles contract negotiation, budget stretching tips and even explains how to use Uber for guest transportation. Get the secrets straight from Mindy Weiss, the celebrity wedding planner behind them. Jessica Bishop, founder of TheBudgetSavvyBride. This will steer your decisions on where to place the focus of your budget or efforts. A practical wedding planner, The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer contains:Planning Tools including checklists, worksheets, calendars, and other interactive toolsInsider Tips and need-to-know advice about how to navigate wedding industry traps from an experienced wedding plannerReal Budgets from real couples, plus cost breakdowns for every part of your ceremonyFrom the ceremony to the reception, The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer is the only wedding planner you'll need to have the wedding of your dreams on a reasonable budget. Plus, the book comes loaded with humorous tips and stories from real couples and vendors, in-depth info on everything from budgets to eloping to self care, and a 300+ list of designers, vendors, wedding apps, and more in the appendix.
Looking for a realistic book that will walk you through taking the and how to play fast and loose with tradition—all while maintaining composure and a little bit of grace? Discover how each venue played a role in the wedding fashion, invitations, and even signature drinks, all while brainstorming ideas for your own destination wedding with the help of the book's tips and checklists. Why does my fiancée seem stressed out all the time? Highly recommended for both budget through deluxe weddings!!! Its minimalist pages go beyond suiting advice to reveal how to choose the best man to how to crush the first dance. Checklists, worksheets, calendars, and more will help you stay organized and navigate it all with ease, no matter your wedding budget. She covers everything plus some and then plus some more! You don't need a Windsor Castle venue to pull off an equally magical ceremony. She gives you a worksheet. A practical wedding planner, The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer contains:Planning Tools including checklists, worksheets, calendars, and other interactive toolsInsider Tips and need-to-know advice about how to navigate wedding industry traps from an experienced wedding plannerReal Budgets from real couples, plus cost breakdowns for every part of your ceremonyFrom the ceremony to the reception, The Budget Savvy Wedding Planner and Organizer is the only wedding planner you'll need to have the wedding of your dreams on a reasonable budget.


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The Commission welcomes agreement on new rules paving the way for better VAT collection on online sales
In December 2017, the European Commission has welcomed the agreement reached by the EU Member States on new rules that include detailed measures needed to simplify the VAT rules for sales of goods online, also ensuring that online marketplaces play their part in the fight against tax fraud.
The above-mentioned rules aim to keep pace with the challenges of today's global, digital and mobile economy. That's why they are targeted into the modernization of the current VAT system for cross-border trade, which enters into force in 1993 and was intended to be a transitional system. With these rules а single EU VAT area was created.
According to the new rules, cross-border transactions would continue to be taxed at the rates of the Member State of destination ('destination principle') as today, but the way taxes are collected would be gradually changed towards a more fraud-proof system. At the same time, an EU-wide web portal would be implemented to ensure a simple VAT collection system for businesses and a more robust system for Member States to gather revenue.
The foreseen updated electronic business portal for VAT ('One-Stop Shop') will allow the traders who sell goods online to deal with their VAT obligations in the EU through one easy-to-use online portal in their own language.
The main purpose of the online portal is to facilitate the traders, who otherwise will be obliged to make VAT registration in each EU Member State into which they want to sell. This requirement is cited by companies as one of the biggest barriers for small businesses, which trades cross-border. The same system is already in place for e-service providers since 2015 and is working well.
The new VAT rules will apply from 1 January 2021, as the Member States have to transpose the new rules of the VAT Directive into national legislation until the end of 2020. Businesses wishing to make use of the extended VAT 'One Stop Shop' can start registering in Member States as of 1st of October 2020.
Other measure which is provided in the rules is the transposition of more autonomy for Member States to choose their own rates policy. Under the current rules, Member States need to stick to a pre-defined list of goods and services when it comes to applying zero or reduced VAT rates. The Commission plans to modernize the framework for rates and to give Member States more flexibility in future. It proposes two options: one option would be to maintain the minimum standard rate of 15% and to review regularly the list of goods and services which can benefit from reduced rates, based on Member States' input. The second option would abolish the list of goods and services that can benefit from reduced rates. This would, however, require safeguards to prevent fraud, avoid unfair tax competition within the Single Market and it could also increase compliance costs for businesses. Under both options, the currently applicable zero and reduced rates would be maintained.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


THE PERIOD: This position is being advertised to fill a 1 year term position.
This position reports to and advises the Senior Strategy Advisor, Policy, Projects and Media, and the Director, Policy, Projects and Media. The Strategic Communications Specialist will provide significant support and some leadership to USJE's communications and media units, and contribute to ensuring that the organization is credible and influential.
Propose draft strategy for response and implement approved strategy.
Provide communications support to USJE's media unit.
Draft strategic draft messages as required.
Liaise with TAXI re: transfer over of USJE's secondary website Illuminating Safety.
Ensure USJE is posting a minimum of one on point article per week.
Maintain and develop both websites as necessary.
Undertake brand compliance reviews of local promotional items that come to USJE's attention.
Undertake other related communications duties as required by the department.
$78,296 to $88,122 (band 9) salary dependent upon qualifications. Excellent conditions and benefits, excluding pay rates, as negotiated between the Union of Safety and Justice and UNIFOR Local 2025 will apply.
There may be a requirement for some travel within Canada.
Appreciation for the distinct experiences USJE's members have vis a vis ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, language, ability, and socio-economic circumstance.


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Egypt Economics and Business
Abbreviated as EGY by abbreviationfinder.org, Egypt is usually considered to be the most developed, i.e. the most industrialized, urbanized, well-educated and economically most diverse, Arab country. At the same time (because of the population growth rate) it is one of the poorest countries in the area. The employment rate in the country is low. In 2016, 11 percent of the labor force was employed in agriculture, 36 percent in industry and 53 percent in service industries. However, these figures hide serious structural problems. The government has used public sector employment as a way of sucking up unemployment, and productivity is low in the industrial and service sectors. Egypt, which exported food until the early 1970s, has recently imported more than half of its food needs.
On the whole, the business structure has undergone major changes in recent decades. In the mid-1970s, "Arab socialism" was abandoned in favor of Infitah, the "open-door economic policy", with increased investment in private ownership and the facilitation of foreign business start-ups. The change was initially sluggish but has accelerated during the 00s, and the private sector now accounts for about 70 percent of GDP. During the 00s, economic growth has also increased, but the economic differences in society have also increased. The unrest in the 2010s has slowed growth, mainly the tourism industry has been hit hard.
Agriculture has long been a neglected area in the country's development planning. While the land reform was implemented during the 1950s and 1960s, its scope was limited. Around 1960, the entire agricultural sector was "cooperated". However, the state's efforts to control production far exceeded its ambition to modernize farming methods, etc. Nevertheless, agriculture is relatively high-yielding, mainly due to favorable climate, good soil and extensive irrigation. Since the completion of the Assuan Dam (High Dam) in 1971, all agriculture has been irrigated and the growing season lasts year-round, allowing an average of two harvests per year.
The countryside is heavily overcrowded, and the land shortage is great. The average cultivation unit is less than 1 ha. Cost-intensive new cultivation programs have increased the cultivation area by about 20 percent, but as much has been lost due to. urbanization and salting damage caused by inadequate drainage. The high dam has resulted in an increase in the groundwater level, and drainage of irrigated farmland has been made more difficult, with extensive salt enrichment as a result. If large areas of cultivation are not to be eliminated, irrigation methods must be used that minimize evaporation. Large resources of fossil groundwater in the desert allow for extended cultivation, but this is not sustainable in the long term.
The most important export crop is long-fiber cotton, with Egypt accounting for 1/3 of world production. Other important crops are maize, wheat and berseem (alexandria clover). Rice has become increasingly important, among other things. because of its greater resistance to salting. Non-controlled crops such as fruits and vegetables have increased in importance at the expense of mainly cotton, the most important "state" crop. The same goes for livestock farming, which increased rapidly despite the fact that Egypt has no natural pastures.
Paulsourcing: Top 10 tips for doing business in Egypt, covering country profile and market entry requirement.
The contribution of fish to overall production is small, but its development potential is significant. About 75 percent of the catch consists of freshwater fish from the Nile, irrigation channels and brackish water lakes in the delta.
Sea fishing occurs in both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The fishing industry is expanding on Lake Nassersjön (High Dam's water reservoir), and efforts are being made to develop fish farming in canals and smaller ponds. In 1986, Egypt, together with Jordan, formed a fishing company with the aim of developing sea fishing.
Fishing in the Mediterranean has decreased since the creation of the High Dam; the fertilizing sediment stays there and does not reach the Mediterranean. The fishing potential in the large lakes in the outer part of the Nile Delta, up to 1,400 kg of fish per hectare per year, is falling due to padding to win cultivation land, water pollution and dehydration. It also decreases by transferring land from fishing to fish farming, which is ecologically harmful and does not produce the returns that some improvement in fishing could provide. Egypt's fishing yields 250,000 tonnes per year.
For a long time, Egypt was considered to be poor in minerals. In recent years, however, coal, iron ore, oil, gas and phosphate have been found. The uranium has been found in several places, as well as minor deposits of zinc, manganese and chromium. Phosphate is extracted at Isna in the Nile Valley and at Bur Safaja by the Red Sea. Bargains have also been made at the Kharijao oasis. Iron ore is mined at Assuan in the south and at the Bahariya oasis in the western desert. Oil deposits are mainly located in the Suez Bay and the Sinai Peninsula, but new finds have been made in both the Nile Delta and the eastern and western deserts. Egypt has been able to maintain a profitable oil export, but the reserves are estimated to be depleted some time in the 21st century. Natural gas was found in 1974 and has become of greater economic importance.
With a high degree of urbanization, rapidly growing population and growing industrialization, Egypt's energy consumption is relatively high. In the past, about 60 percent of the electricity came from the High Dam at Assuan, but due to water shortages, gas power plants now account for most of the electricity production. The old plans to build nuclear power plants at Alexandria and to fill the Qattara sink in the western desert with Mediterranean water to extract electricity may also be revived.
In the 1950s and 1960s, industry was nationalized, and production was largely governed by the requirement that import dependence be avoided and employment given to a rapidly growing urban population. This led to low efficiency. Since the 1970s, the ambition has been to increase private ownership and improve capacity utilization. Although private investment has increased, due to import competition and experience from previous confiscations, they have mainly gone to the construction, tourism and service sectors. To some extent, however, an increase in investment has also occurred in the consumer goods industry.
In 2016, the industry accounted for 36 percent of GDP. About 2/3 of the production is from the public sector. Egypt has built up a heavy base industry (chemical and petrochemical industry, steel industry), but the traditional industries (food and textile industry) account for almost half of the industry's production value. The concentration of industrial operations in the major cities of Cairo and Alexandria is striking, but attempts are made to spread operations to other areas, including through the construction of several new cities in the desert and by locating energy-intensive industry in the southern parts of the country, near the High Dam.
Since World War II, Egypt has had an almost constant current account deficit. However, this has been partly offset since the 1970s by revenues from tourism, fees from the Suez Canal and cash payments from labor abroad, which has allowed a reasonably good balance of payments. However, the situation worsened during the 1980s. Expensive foreign borrowing did not lead to expected production and income boosts but to a gigantic foreign debt. Expected export increases have been hampered by lack of competitiveness, partly due to overvalued currency, and oil revenues have fallen due to lower oil prices. The main focus of exports has – temporarily – shifted from traditional agricultural products to crude oil. Imports are mainly food, machinery and transport equipment.
COUNTRYAAH: Find major trading partners of Egypt, including major exports and major imports with latest trade value and market share as well as growth rate.
Tourism and gastronomy
Tourism plays an important economic role for the country; In 2013, Egypt was visited by 9.2 million people, corresponding to 16.2 percent of the country's export earnings. Domestic tourism plays a significant role economically. Due to the economic importance of tourism and the publicity surrounding it, non-Arab tourists have periodically set targets for terrorist acts by fundamentalist Islamic groups, which has caused the number of visitors to fluctuate.
Note: the capital city of Egypt is Cairo with a population of 9,700,000 (estimate 2016). Other major cities include Alexandria with a population of 3,900,000, Gizawith a population of 2,500,000, Shubra al-kheima with a population of 1,000,000, Port Said with a population of 555,000, Suez with a population of 506,000 (2007 estimate).
Even in ancient times, Egypt was a tourist country and so it is today, even though the sights of the time in the newly divided mostly disappeared; the exuberantly fertile and populous delta area is still worth a detour. A contemporary tourist visit encompasses Cairo with the outstanding Egyptian Museum, with the tomb of Tutankhamun, for example, and the nearby pyramids of Giza. Then a trip to Luxor is recommended, with important ancient sites in the area (Karnak and Thebe) and finally the trip to Assuan with several ancient sites and opportunities for sailing on the Nile – perhaps even an excursion to the UNESCO-saved temples in Abu Simbel. Many tourists take a bathing holiday in Hurghada (al-Ghurdaqa) on the Red Sea or visit the Katarina Monastery in Sinai, one of the foremost and most remarkable monasteries of the Orthodox Church.
A car ride up the Nile Valley during the cooler season provides an opportunity to visit interesting pharaonic monuments without congestion: Akhenathon's Amarna on the river's east side, Idfu (Edfu) and Kawm Umbu (Kom Ombo) are some examples. In cities such as al-Minya and Asyut there are hotels with restaurants. Coptic Egypt offers memorable experiences of living ancient Christian culture in the monasteries of the Natrundalen Valley west of the main road between Cairo and Alexandria, with interesting architecture and striking frescoes.
Cairo is especially famous as one of the historical centers of Islamic culture; there is a rich selection of mosques from the 800s and a thousand years onwards (Ibn-Tulun, Hasan, al-Azhar) and several fine Islamic museums. The bazaar Khan al-Khalili attracts the purchase of glass, textiles and metal. The entire district of Bulaq seems to bring visitors several centuries back in time.
Those who can't should neglect a visit to Alexandria, whose now-declining and once somewhat depraved elegance is best expressed in the European turn of the century architecture along the several-mile promenade and on some of the main streets. In the city there is an excellent museum of Hellenistic-Egyptian culture as well as the newly built library. To the east of Alexandria lies the well-equipped seaside resort of Montaza with the former royal family's summer palace (now a museum). A completely different kind of memories awakens the monument to the fallen from both sides at el-Alamein, in the desert on the road to the Libyan border, where one of the decisive battles of the Second World War took place.
In Egypt, there are, in more or less renovated condition, some of the more than century-old classic tourist hotels for fine-dining: Cecil (since 2014 Steinberger Cecil Hotel) in Alexandria, Mena House in Giza and not least the hotel renovated guest house for Empress Eugénie when she inaugurated Suez Canals 1869; in Assuan is the Old Cataract Hotel. These hotels and many other restaurants, mainly in Cairo, eat well: European, Lebanese or Turkish cuisine, or why not Egyptian.
The roots are the same for gastronomy in Egypt as throughout the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean: a simple food attitude in nomadic culture, mixed (and spiced) with influence from all over the known world that trade provided in combination with access to fish in the coastal regions. Cheese corn bread is the basis of the kitchen. Specifically Egyptian is the foul madame, which consists of brown beans with garlic, oil and lemon juice. The national court considers many to be molokheya, a sweet, green soup made from a spinach-like herb, with rabbit or chicken, garlic, coriander and sometimes tomato. Some claim that the origin of the law is ancient.
Sheep are the most common meat, roasted, ground or cooked, often as stew with eggs and vegetables. Cumin, coriander and cinnamon are daily spices. An essence of orange blossoms or cherry blossoms is used to give a fresh taste to the water. Dates, pistachios and almonds are ground into sweet pastries; Plums, pomegranates, mangoes and lime are eaten fresh.
AfricaEgypt
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Our CEO, Zac Carman, was a guest on this week's The F Word podcast, hosted by Tulsa's own 36 Degrees North, a basecamp for entrepreneurs.
The F Word dives into the failures and successes of some of today's boldest entrepreneurs. In this inaugural episode Zac talks about being a "seven year overnight success", life after working in private equity, his first startup, and how he had to fail fast to make ConsumerAffairs a success.
Listen to the episode on iTunes or Google play, or here on the 36 Degrees North website.


What do you get when you combine the rapid fire banter of '80s action flicks like "Tango & Cash," the modern action of the Bourne films and just the right amount of science? The five issue miniseries "Red Spike" from Image Comics and Benaroya Publishing, of course. Written by Jeff Cahn with interior art by Salvador Navarrow and covers by Mark Texeira, the May-shipping series follows a pair of super soldiers named Matt Cutler and Greg Dane who have undergone intense training as well as a surgery to help them control their body's natural output of adrenaline.
"Red Spike is the name of both the covert program and the adrenaline system that's installed in the two cadets, Matt and Greg," Cahn told CBR News. "Basically, after they pass training they have this system installed in their body with chips in their brain and on their adrenal glands which are by your kidneys. Basically, it allows your brain to tell this regulator on your adrenal gland that you need more adrenaline. So it allows you to up your adrenaline production and then distribute it. If you're in a scenario where you're having your fight or flight response engaged, then it allows you to maximize your adrenaline for an extended period of time. Essentially, these guys can think themselves into an adrenaline frenzy when they need to. It allows them to be stronger and faster and be awake longer should they need to be."
Unlike many other super soldiers seen in movies and comics, the "Red Spike" soldiers aren't just lucky individuals chosen for their enthusiasm or ability to kill, they must be at the top of their respective military branches, become experts in the ways of black ops espionage and pass the physical tests necessary to have the system surgically implanted. The tests have produced only two viable candidates in Matt and Greg. While both superior physical specimens, the pair differ greatly when it comes to personality.
"Matt is definitely more of the straight edge guy," Cahn said. "He would be the white hat of the group and Greg would be the black hat. I look at [Matt] more as someone who does this for all the right reasons, a good kid who had kind of a rough upbringing when he lost his father and things like that, but he has a good head on his shoulders and is really trying to make the most of not only himself but also positively impact the world around him. Greg is sort of the darker impulses of not only people but also what someone who has this system is. As we move later in the series, especially in #2, you learn a lot about Greg's past and you see where a lot of his anger comes from and then the system only serves to maximize that."
Their personal differences don't stop Matt and Greg from getting along in the field though. In fact, they share a competitive but friendly relationship that stops short of becoming a full-blown bromance because, as Cahn pointed out, in the regular world their paths would only cross if Matt was a cop who arrested Greg. While both characters are important to different aspects of the story, Matt was the first dreamt up by Cahn in the development stage.
"The main character, Matt, was one we had been working on for a while," Cahn remembered. "We had a couple different ideas for the story that we had been playing around with that I had written treatments of, trying to figure out that story for this character and this technology. Ultimately when we decided to go into production on the comic, this story with Matt and Greg was the one we decided on because I thought it was a good origin story so you can learn where everyone comes from and the genesis of the program. I really like having the two guys so they can play off of each other and we can see the effects of this power on different personality types and seeing how you can have too much of a good thing if you're angry or lean more towards the dark side."
Greg's temper isn't the only problem facing him in the inaugural "Red Spike" miniseries, though, he will also be dealing with malfunctions in his Red Spike implants that have widespread effects on the program and the story.
"That's what drives a lot of the miniseries," Cahn said. "That idea of technology and the limits of it and the limits of the human body and mind and how they interact. The fact that Greg has trouble with his system is a huge part of the story. That idea was one that we had played with in other contexts because that's the really interesting theme that's ever present in this world; how people and their technology interact. This is going to an extreme with the technology being in your body and used for warfare, which is an extreme human even."
Lest readers think all the talk of hormones and technology might distance them from the material, "Red Spike" keeps the technology just detailed enough to understand without getting too heavy on the jargon.
"That's sort of an ever present problem with something like this, how to set it up so it's believable and everyone understands what's going on but without getting too bogged down in the science of it all and the 15 syllable words for neurological chemicals and things like that," Cahn said. "Those are scenes I would write and then toy with and rewrite. When dealing with something like this, sometimes the less they say, the more believable it is because once you get people thinking too hard about it, there might be certain things that don't make sense."
Cahn promised that believability is not a problem with "Red Spike" because, after digging through piles of research material, he invented a super soldier system that could theoretically exist in our world, assuming some black ops surgeons figured out a way to surgically implant those attachments. However, the writer also looked to comic books and various movies for inspiration as well.
"I guess in some ways ['80s action movies] were [influential on "Red Spike"] and in some ways you try to do something new," Cahn explained. "I definitely like the way the 'Bourne' trilogy has kicked the ball forward as far as the realism and the grittiness. At the same time it's hard to get away from the zeitgeist that's been established with movies like 'Universal Soldier.' Some of those tropes have been established because they work. The audience is expecting a certain degree of that, so you have to respect that and, but at the same time you have to do something surprising and something new with it to keep their interest. I tried to draw elements that I like from the more campy '80s and early '90s action movies and the realistic, grittier mid-2000s movies."
"Red Spike" #1 debuts May 4, 2011 from Image Comics for only a dollar.