Even though the range of phenomena syntactic theories intend to account for is basically the same, the large number of current approaches to syntax shows how differently these phenomena can be interpreted, described, and explained. The goal of the volume is to probe into the question of how exactly these frameworks differ and what if anything they have in common.Descriptions of a sample of current approaches to syntax are presented by their major practitioners (Part I) followed by their metatheoretical underpinnings (Part II). Given that the goal is to facilitate a systematic comparison among the approaches, a checklist of issues was given to the contributors to address. The main headings are Data, Goals, Descriptive Tools, and Criteria for Evaluation. The chapters are structured uniformly allowing an item-by-item survey across the frameworks. The introduction lays out the parameters along which syntactic frameworks must be the same and how they may differ and a final paper draws some conclusions about similarities and differences.The volume is of interest to descriptive linguists, theoreticians of grammar, philosophers of science, and studies of the cognitive science of science.

This volume is an enhanced version of the English translation from the French original edition 'Principes d'analyse syntaxique' (Québec, 1973). It provides a survey of theoretical approaches to syntax, including traditional grammars, structuralism, functionalism, and formal approaches.

No detailed description available for "Syntactic Structures".

Syntax – the study of sentence structure – has been at the centre of generative linguistics from its inception and has developed rapidly and in various directions. The Cambridge Handbook of Generative Syntax provides a historical context for what is happening in the field of generative syntax today, a survey of the various generative approaches to syntactic structure available in the literature and an overview of the state of the art in the principal modules of the theory and the interfaces with semantics, phonology, information structure and sentence processing, as well as linguistic variation and language acquisition. This indispensable resource for advanced students, professional linguists (generative and non-generative alike) and scholars in related fields of inquiry presents a comprehensive survey of the field of generative syntactic research in all its variety, written by leading experts and providing a proper sense of the range of syntactic theories calling themselves generative.

The contributions making up this volume in honor of Eloise Jelinek are written from a formalist perspective that deals with stereotypically functionalist questions about language. Jelinek's pioneering work in formalist syntax has shown that autonomous syntax need not exist in a vacuum. Her work has highlighted the importance of incorporating the effects of discourse and information structure on the syntactic representation. This book aims to invoke Jelinek's work either in substance or spirit. The focus is on Jelinek's influential Pronominal Argument Hypothesis as an "non-configurational" language; the influence of discourse-related interface phenomena on syntactic structure; the syntactic analysis of the grammaticalization; interactions between morphology, phonology and phonetics; and foundational issues about the link between formal grammar and function of language, as well as the methodological issues underlying the different approaches to linguistics.

Syntactic theory is central to the study of language. This innovative book introduces the ideas which underlie most approaches to syntax and shows how they have been developed within two broad frameworks: principles and parameters theory and phrase structure grammar. While other texts either concentrate on one theory or treat them as totally separate, here both approaches are introduced together, highlighting the similarities as well as the differences. Thoroughly updated in the light of major recent developments, this second edition includes expanded explanations of the main characteristics of the two theories, summaries of the main features, exercises reinforcing key points and suggestions for further investigation.

This volume is an enhanced version of the English translation from the French original edition 'Principes d'analyse syntaxique' (Québec, 1973). It provides a survey of theoretical approaches to syntax, including traditional grammars, structuralism, functionalism, and formal approaches.