Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Summary
Aims
This book has two main aims, reflected in its title and subtitle. The first is to provide an intensive introduction to recent work in syntactic theory (more particularly to how the computational component operates within the model of grammar assumed in recent work within the framework of Chomsky's Minimalist Program). The second is to provide a description of a range of phenomena in English syntax, making use of minimalist concepts and assumptions wherever possible. The book can be seen as a successor to (or updated version of) my (1997a) book Syntactic Theory and the Structure of English. There is quite a lot of duplication of material between the earlier book and this one (particularly in the first few chapters), though the present book also contains substantial new material (e.g. on agreement, case, split projections and phases), and the analysis of many phenomena presented in this book differs from that in its predecessor (agreement being handled in terms of a feature-matching rather than a feature-checking framework, for example).
Key features
The book is intended to be suitable both for people with only minimal grammatical knowledge, and for people who have already done quite a bit of syntax but want to know something (more) about Minimalism. It is not historicist or comparative in orientation, and hence does not presuppose knowledge of earlier or alternative models of grammar. It is written in an approachable style, avoiding unnecessary complexity.
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- Information
- Minimalist SyntaxExploring the Structure of English, pp. xi - xivPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004