25.2444, Review: Linguistic Theories; Syntax: Kuiper & Noakes (2013)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-25-2444. Thu Jun 05 2014. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 25.2444, Review: Linguistic Theories; Syntax: Kuiper & Noakes (2013)

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Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 08:54:44
From: Kariema El Touny [k.eltouny at gmail.com]
Subject: Theories of Syntax

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/24/24-4770.html

AUTHOR: Koenraad  Kuiper
AUTHOR: Jacqui  Noakes
TITLE: Theories of Syntax
SUBTITLE: Concepts and Case Studies
PUBLISHER: Palgrave Macmillan
YEAR: 2013

REVIEWER: Kariema El Touny, Women's College for Arts, Science, and Education, Ain Shams University

SUMMARY

Although there are many books on syntax and syntactic theories, it is
interesting to read a new approach to the topic. The authors admit to this
truth as early as in the preface. In it, their motives for writing the book
and the route they take in presenting them are explained.

The book is divided into two major parts. Part I (three chapters) deals with
the concepts of syntax to pave the way for Part II, which consists of five
chapters listing four current theories of syntax. These four distinct theories
are presented systematically through seven syntactic phenomena, which the
authors use as case studies to show how each theory tries to explain them.

Part I: Concepts of Syntax

In chapter 1, the authors explain what syntax is, and why we would study it.
One reason they bring up is the existence of some problematic structures, such
as ambiguous sentences and various word orders. Another reason is the
observation that there is a difference between what speakers of the same
language understand/infer and what those who hear the language for the first
time do. By doing so, the authors pose questions to advocate for the creation
of a syntactic theory to answer them. Finally, after establishing the need for
it, they give the methods by which to accomplish that.

Linguists are like scientists of any field in this respect. Studying a
language is compared to studying animals or plants. Zoologists and botanists
not only pick specimens, take samples, run tests, and obtain results, but also
create taxonomic charts to find similarities and differences between species.
The process they implement is called hypothetico-deductive methodology; where
a hypothesis is proposed, followed by tests, if the results are unfavorable,
the hypothesis is modified.

Chapter 2 is dedicated to listing the concepts that any model of syntax for
any natural language should account for. These are: Adjacency, Domain,
Constituency, Dependency, Function, Morpho-syntactic Form, and Inherent and
Assigned Properties.

First, Adjacency requirements and restrictions should be explained. In a
sentence, sometimes it is grammatical for some syntactic units to be adjacent
to other specific units due to their relationship; otherwise the sentence
would be marked as ungrammatical. For example (p. 16):

1.a Alice ate the cake.
1.b *Alice ate quickly the cake.

In (1), the verb ‘eat’ must be adjacent to ‘the cake’. The adverb ‘quickly’,
describing the manner of eating, cannot come between the two words.

Second, Domain is another form of relationship between units. The authors use
the analogy of a wedding photo to explain the concept. The bride and groom are
a domain, the bride’s family is another domain, the groom’s family is another,
the bride’s parents are a sub-domain, the groom’s sisters are a sub-domain,
and so on. Each member of a specific family could not stand in the middle of
the other; for example, a groom’s sister could not stand between the bride’s
parents. The picture/sentence would not be symmetrical/grammatical.

Third, a significant concept of syntax is Constituency, the mechanism by which
smaller units are combined with other units to form larger constituents.
Constituency also deals with the reasoning behind choosing units to form a
coherent constituent.

Dependency is the fourth concept. It occurs when a unit requires the presence,
form, or certain properties of another unit in the sentence. For example (p.
17):

1.a Alice saw herself in the looking glass.

The antecedent ‘Alice’ determines the reflexive pronoun’s gender and number,
thus, using ‘herself’ instead of ‘himself’ or ‘themselves’.

The fifth concept is Function. Each unit has its role to play. This role could
be determining the category of a phrase; consequently, how and where the
phrase is used. For example:

4.a The key opened the door.

The noun ‘key’ identifies ‘the key’ as a noun phrase. Hence, its
grammatical/syntactic function is the head of the noun phrase. The location of
the noun phrase at the beginning of the sentence is its semantic/logical
function as the subject of the sentence. On the other hand, the
semantic/logical function of ‘the door’, another noun phrase, is the object.

Sixth, the Morpho-syntactic Form of a word provides both syntactic and
semantic information. For instance, the singular vs. plural forms affect the
meaning conveyed by the sentence. Consider the examples in (5) (p. 27):

5.a My tooth fell out.
5.b My teeth fell out.

The seventh concept, Inherent and Assigned Properties, could be applied to
many of the previous ones. Function is an example of both inherent and
assigned/relational properties. The noun functions as the head of the noun
phrase inherently, while its function in a sentence as either the subject or
the object is assigned.

Chapter 3 starts with a brief summary of some discourse functions, like
presupposition, and a few semantic concepts, such as reference, that play a
role in syntax. Then, the authors list the case studies and their different
interpretations by each theory. These phenomena are: Phrase Structure and
Complementation, Grammatical Relations, Case, Passive Constructions, WH
Questions, Pronominals, and Phonologically Null Syntactic Elements. The
authors draw on several of the syntactic concepts mentioned in Chapter 2 to
present these case studies:

1) Phrase Structure and Complementation relies on Constituency, Domain,
Dependency, and Adjacency, in the formation of phrases, the choice of
complements, and the relationship between these elements.
2) Grammatical Relations is presented using Function.
3) Case involves Constituency, Domain, Dependency, and Function.
4) Passive Constructions include Dependency and Function, and fall under
Domain constraints.
5) WH Questions rely on Domain, Dependency, and Function.
6) Pronominals or Pro-forms involve Dependency and have Domain restrictions.
7) Phonologically Null Syntactic Elements rely on Dependency and are subject
to Domain constraints.

Depending on the particular theory of syntax, each of these case studies is
presented and explained within that theory.

Part II Theories of Syntax

Each chapter, 4-7, is dedicated to one theory. These are: Systematic
Functional Grammar, the Principles and Parameters Framework, Lexical
Functional Grammar, and the Minimalist Program. They are presented in
chronological order, 1960s to 1990s, to provide the reader with a panoramic
view of the on-going change within the field. The authors start with a brief
history of each theory; then, they outline each using the concepts and case
studies, while mentioning a few of the controversies within it.

In chapter 8, the authors re-examine the problematic structures they
previously mentioned in chapter 1 and state whether each theory could explain
them or not. They conclude that some questions are never answered; and if they
are, some answers are better than others. In addition, syntactic theories are
not the sole criterion by which a language should be studied. There are many
factors involved in its study, such as biology and psychology.

Comparing the four theories could be achieved by taking four factors into
consideration. One is the aims of each theory. A second is the generality of
these aims. A third is whether the theory utilizes the hypothetico-deductive
methodology or not. Last is the explicit nature of the theory and its
terminology.

The authors end the book by describing how syntactic theories are
locally-based depending on the theorists working on them. Hallidayan
approaches are mainly in Australia, where Michael Halliday works; Lexical
Functional Grammar is based at Stanford University, where Joan Bresnan is; and
Linguistic Inquiry, published by MIT, where Noam Chomsky teaches, is mainly
dedicated to Chomskian framework. Unlike Physics, for instance, these varied
disciplines rarely mingle and collaborations are very few. This is attributed
to the relatively young age of syntactic theories, where many are still
developing.

EVALUATION

The book is easy to read and flows logically. In it, the authors give the
reader a fresh view on the study of syntax; the reasons for studying it, and
the methods to accomplish that. They maintain that the book will not delve
into any controversies surrounding any particular theory nor will it offer
solutions to any supposed weaknesses. They use examples solely from English to
generalize the concepts and the case studies. Their proposed blueprint could
be applied to any language. The structure of the middle chapters, 4-7, is
unique. Each chapter is repetitive in nature to give the reader the
prerogative to choose specific chapters to read as stand-alones.

The book is not for a true beginner, someone who does not know the basic
concepts and common definitions of syntax. To best use this book, the reader
needs to be familiar with basic grammatical functions like subject, predicate,
and object; grammatical categories like noun, verb, and preposition; phrase
structures like noun phrase and verb phrase; and the difference between a main
and a subordinate clause. In addition, the book makes use of tree diagrams;
hence the ability to reading them is required.

The book suffers from many typos and mis-numbered examples, which may cause
some confusion. For example, p3, 2nd line from the bottom; p12, 9th line from
the bottom; p26, 1st line in 2.7; p33, 4th line in 3.2; the numbers of
examples 1, 2, and 3 in chapter 2 are repeated.

Nevertheless, the book has many redeeming features. One is providing the
reader, at the end of each chapter including the preface, with questions for
revision, reflection, and discussion, plus a list of books for further reading
and the references used. Another is using one source for the examples, Lewis
Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” This way, the reader gets
unified material for the diverse theories to explain, which makes comparing
and contrasting them easier.

REFERENCES

Carroll, L., Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (retrieved from
http://sabian.org/alice_in_wonderland1.php) (original publication date 1865).


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Kariema El Touny has an MA from Women’s College, Ain Shams University. Her
interests include (but are not limited to) Syntax, Arabic Dialectology,
Typology, and Theory Construction. She has presented and published her
research on Cairene Arabic syntax within the frameworks of the Minimalist
Program and Optimality Theory.








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