Modern Syntax: A Coursebook
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 1/13/2011
EAN 9780521682046, ISBN10: 0521682045
Paperback, 370 pages, 24.7 x 17.4 x 2.1 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
This practical coursebook introduces all the basics of modern syntactic analysis in a simple step-by-step fashion. Each unit is constructed so that the reader discovers new ideas, formulates hypotheses and practises fundamentals. The reader is presented with short sections of explanation with examples, followed by practice exercises. Feedback and comment sections follow to enable students to monitor their progress. No previous background in syntax is assumed. Students move through all the key topics in the field including features, rules of combination and displacement, empty categories, and subcategorization. The theoretical perspective in this work is unique, drawing together the best ideas from three major syntactic frameworks (minimalism, HPSG and LFG). Students using this book will learn fundamentals in such a way that they can easily go on to pursue further study in any of these frameworks.
Part I. Basic Ideas in Syntax
1. Defining syntax
2. Syntactic data
3. Hypotheses
rules
Part II. Categories and Subcategories
4. Words and lexical categories
5. Functional categories
6. Pronouns
7. Other subcategories of nouns
8. Subcategories of verbs
9. Tangent
tense, aspect and mood
10. Auxiliaries
Part III. Constituents, Merge and Trees
11. Constituency
12. Complements
13. Complements
a case study
14. Specifiers of VP and TP
15. Specifiers of NP and DP
16. Tagging
17. Adjuncts
18. Drawing trees
Part IV. Movement and Control
19. Passives
20. Non-finite clauses 1
control constructions
21. Non-finite clauses 1
raising constructions
22. Head movement 1
auxiliaries
23. Head movement 2
main verbs
24. Wh-movement
Part V. Conclusions and Appendices
25. Evaluating our progress
26. The next steps
Appendix 1. Glossary, symbols and abbreviations
Appendix 2. Features and their values
Appendix 3. Rules, constraints and principles.