Len writes:

>Allan Gotthelf asserts:
>
>>"To the store" is NEVER a sentence ...
>
>Perhaps not strictly grammatically, but it is certainly a valid and
>meaningful response to the question "Where are you going?".  And in that
>respect, it supports the notion implicit in much of this discussion that
>context is important, and a definition that doesn't say anything about
>context is probably going to fail one or more of Sterling's tests.

I was aware of such cases when I wrote, but my letter was already too long
to say anything about it.  In your example "To the store" is short for "I
am going to the store".  Language allows ellipsis, and yes, context gives
you that.  But until you know that the full thought is "I am going to the
store", you won't understand "To the store" as a contextual sentence.  So,
nothing changes.  Once we have a grasp of a "complete musical thought", we
can go on, as in the linguistic case, to discuss musical ellipses.  But
until then, the ellipses are irrelevant.  So please don't give up so soon,
Len.

Allan