Read more
Informationen zum Autor Nicholas Sobin is Professor of Language and Linguistics at The University of Texas at El Paso. He has published numerous articles on various topics in syntax in such journals as Linguistics Inquiry , Natural Language & Linguistic Theory , and the Journal of Linguistics , and has held Visiting Scholar appointments at M.I.T. and Harvard University. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. Klappentext Highly readable and eminently practical, Syntactic Analysis: The Basics focuses on bringing students with little background in linguistics up to speed on how modern syntactic analysis works.* A succinct and practical introduction to understanding sentence structure, ideal for students who need to get up to speed on key concepts in the field* Introduces readers to the central terms and concepts in syntax* Offers a hands-on approach to understanding and performing syntactic analysis and introduces students to linguistic argumentation* Includes numerous problem sets, helpfully graded for difficulty, with model answers provided at critical points* Prepares readers for more advanced work with syntactic systems and syntactic analyses Zusammenfassung This succinct, practical introduction to understanding sentence structure is ideal for students with little background in linguistics. Introducing the reader to the central terms and concepts in the field of syntax, it explains how to understand and operate syntactic analysis, as well as how to approach linguistic argumentation. Inhaltsverzeichnis Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Introductory Notes and References 1 1 Doing Science with Language: Introductory Concepts 5 This chapter introduces hypothesis formation and testing in the realm of human language and discusses the paradox of language acquisition. It offers an initial sketch of the Principles&Parameters approach and the innateness hypothesis. 2 The Structure and Classification of Words 12 Words are analyzed into roots and affixes. A system of generative word formation is introduced involving morphemes and word formation rules. Also discussed are criteria for identifying the lexical class of roots, stems, and words. Finally, a discussion of the "meaning" of particular affixes leads to the conclusion that affixes do not have "simple" meanings, but instead participate with a constellation of other factors to determine meaning, something referred to as "compositional" semantics. 3 Determining the Structure of Sentences 29 Tests of phrasehood are introduced, indicating the presence of hierarchic structure within sentences. Also presented is some of the core terminology of syntactic relations among phrases. 4 Rules of Sentence Structure: A First Approximation 38 Phrase structure rules are introduced as a means of explaining the presence of hierarchic structure within sentences. Beyond basic phrasal structure, key concepts such as structural ambiguity and recursion are presented as further evidence of the efficacy of the phrase structure approach to the analysis of sentences. Recursion is noted as the key to explaining "linguistic creativity." 5 Assigning Meaning in Sentences 53 Presented here is the system of determining grammatical function (subject, object, or adjunct) based on structural position. Building on this, theta roles and argument structure are introduced, offering an explanation both of how arguments (subjects, objects, etc.) get their explicit meanings, and how verbs "choose" the correct complementation pattern. 6 Some Category-Neutral Processes 63 Here, the notion of "category-neutral" processes is first introduced, paving the way for the generally category-neutral system of X-bar syntax presented later. The processes discussed here are coordination and ...
