syntax textbook for undergrads

[Stephen Wechsler]

Hej,
I have used that book (Sag et al).  It is one of the best intro syntax
books ever, in my opinion.  I love its precision.  My use of that
textbook probably played a role in inspiring one of my then-undergrads
to go on to become an excellent syntactician.  But I'm looking for
something different.  Others I already know about:

--Carnie, 'Syntax, a generative introduction'
--Radford, 'Transformational syntax'
--Kim & Sells, 'English Syntax'

All of these have positive points.

The closest to my needs, I think, are Paul Kroeger's other book
('Analyzing Grammar') and Tallerman's 'Understanding syntax'.  I'll
probably use one or both of those--  unless something better comes
along.  (Yes, I'm still open to suggestions.)   Thanks again, y'all.

--Steve

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 9:06 AM, Roussanka Loukanova
<rloukano at stp.lingfil.uu.se> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I think you are looking for:
>
> Sag, Ivan A., Thomas Wasow, and Emily M. Bender. 2003. Syntactic Theory - A
> formal introduction. 2nd Edition. Stanford: CSLI
>
> While closest to HPSG, it is towards generalizations of constraint-based
> approaches. The first half of the book is very suitable for introduction to
> syntax, linguistic concepts, and semi-formal representations. At the end,
> the book has a section that is an excellent overview of the enterprise of
> syntactic theories.
>
> My teaching experience is that students comprehend very comfortably the
> introductory and the more advanced chapters.
>
> In addition, for the more math-logic oriented students, the book has
> chapters on a new direction of formal models (i.e., mathematics) of syntax
> (I have an overview to appear at some point).
>
> Roussanka
>
> On Thu, 13 May 2010, Stephen Wechsler wrote:
>
>> These good choices have been suggested to me so far:
>>
>> --Tallerman, 'Understanding Syntax'
>> --Kroeger, 'Analyzing Grammar'
>> --Thomas Payne, 'Exploring Language Structures'
>> --Borsley, Syntactic Theory: A Unified Approach
>>
>> Thanks very much to those who have responded.
>>
>> best,
>> Steve
>>
>> On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 12:14 PM, Stephen Wechsler
>> <wechsler at mail.utexas.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>> I'm looking for an introductory syntax textbook for undergraduates,
>>> and wonder if anyone has recommendations (and don't be shy about
>>> recommending your own book, if you've written one).  I have used many
>>> different books over the years, but I still haven't found exactly what
>>> I want.
>>>
>>> My current favorite is Paul Kroeger's 'Analyzing Syntax'.  I like the
>>> rich, interesting, cross-linguistic coverage and clear presentation.
>>> The balance of theory and description is about right.  The only
>>> problem is that it is too advanced for many of my students.
>>>
>>> I'm also a fan of C. L. Baker's 'English Syntax', and I use it for
>>> classes on English syntax.  The students understand it.  It lays
>>> everything out step by step with a bare minimum of technical
>>> terminology (yet still not dumbed down).  My ideal textbook would have
>>> Kroeger's range of languages and phenomena, but directed at the level
>>> of student that Baker's book seems to be aimed at.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Thanks.
>>>
>>> --Steve
>>>
>