A Student's Introduction to English Grammar
Cambridge University Press, 2/17/2005
EAN 9780521612883, ISBN10: 0521612888
Paperback, 320 pages, 24.5 x 17.5 x 2 cm
Language: English
This groundbreaking undergraduate textbook on modern Standard English grammar is the first to be based on the revolutionary advances of the authors' previous work, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (2002). The analyses defended there are outlined here more briefly, in an engagingly accessible and informal style. Errors of the older tradition of English grammar are noted and corrected, and the excesses of prescriptive usage manuals are firmly rebutted in specially highlighted notes that explain what older authorities have called 'incorrect' and show why those authorities are mistaken. This book is intended for students in colleges or universities who have little or no previous background in grammar, and presupposes no linguistics. It contains exercises, and will provide a basis for introductions to grammar and courses on the structure of English not only in linguistics departments but also in English language and literature departments and schools of education.
1. Introduction
2. A rapid overview
3. Verbs, tense, aspect, and mood
4. Clause structure, complements, and adjuncts
5. Nouns and noun phrases
6. Adjectives and adverbs
7. Prepositions and preposition phrases
8. Negation and related phenomena
9. Clause type
asking, exclaiming, and directing
10. Subordination and content clauses
11. Relative clauses
12. Grade and comparison
13. Non-finite clauses and clauses without verbs
14. Coordination and more
15. Information packaging in the clause
16. Morphology
words and lexemes
Further reading
Glossary
Index.
'... this grammar is a thought provoking book and a challenging read for grammarians working along more traditional or mainstream lines.' Moderna Sprak