16.784, Books: Ling Theories/Morphology/Syntax: Li

Tue Mar 15 17:18:48 UTC 2005

LINGUIST List: Vol-16-784. Tue Mar 15 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.784, Books: Ling Theories/Morphology/Syntax: Li

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Wayne State U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>

Reviews (reviews at linguistlist.org) 
        Sheila Collberg, U of Arizona  
        Terry Langendoen, U of Arizona  

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, Wayne
State University, and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Megan Zdrojkowski <megan at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

Links to the websites of all LINGUIST's supporting publishers
are available at the end of this issue. 

===========================Directory==============================  

1)
Date: 14-Mar-2005
From: David Weininger < dgw at mit.edu >
Subject: X°: A Theory of the Morphology-Syntax Interface: Li 

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 12:15:04
From: David Weininger < dgw at mit.edu >
Subject: X°: A Theory of the Morphology-Syntax Interface: Li 

Title: X° 
Subtitle: A Theory of the Morphology-Syntax Interface 
Publication Year: 2005 
Publisher: MIT Press
	   http://mitpress.mit.edu/

Book URL: http://mitpress.mit.edu/promotions/books/SP20050262122758 

Author: Yafei Li, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Hardback: ISBN: 0262122758 Pages: 232 Price: U.S. $ 75
Paperback: ISBN: 0262621916 Pages: 232 Price: U.S. $ 30

Abstract:

This important monograph offers a resolution to the debate in theoretical
linguistics over the role of syntactic head movement in word formation. It
does so by synthesizing the syntactic and lexicalist approaches on the
basis of the empirical data that support each side. In trying to determine
how a morphologically complex word is formed in Universal Grammar,
generative linguists have argued either that a substantial amount of
morphological phenomena result from head movement in overt syntax (the
widely adopted syntactic approach) or that morphological/lexical means are
both necessary and sufficient for a theory of word formation (the
Lexicalist Hypothesis). Li examines both the linguistic facts that are 
brought to light for the first time and the existing data in the literature
and shows that each side has an empirical foundation that cannot be negated
by the other. Since neither approach is adequate to explain all the facts
of word formation, he argues, the way to achieve a unified account lies in
synthesizing the empirically advantageous portions of both approaches into
one simple and coherent theory. 

Li begins by demonstrating how a theory that combines the essence of the
syntactic and lexicalist approaches can account more accurately for the
various morphological constructions analyzed in the literature by means of
syntactic verb incorporation. He then examines causativization on the
adjectival root, noun incorporation in polysynthetic languages, and the
possibility that the word formation part of the Lexicalist
Hypothesis--which is crucial to his theory--can be derived as a theorem
from a version of the X-bar theory. He concludes by discussing
methodological issues in current linguistic research.

Yafei Li is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Linguistics at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison. 

Linguistic Field(s): Linguistic Theories
                     Morphology
                     Syntax

Written In: English  (ENG)

See this book announcement on our website: 
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=13772

MAJOR SUPPORTERS

	Cascadilla Press          
		http://www.cascadilla.com/	

	Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd          
		http://www.continuumbooks.com	

	Edinburgh University Press          
		http://www.eup.ed.ac.uk/	

	Elsevier Ltd.          
		http://www.elsevier.com/locate/linguistics	

	Equinox Publishing Ltd.          
		http://www.equinoxpub.com/	

	Hodder Arnold          
		http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk	

	Lawrence Erlbaum Associates          
		http://www.erlbaum.com/	

	Lincom GmbH          
		http://www.lincom-europa.com	

	MIT Press          
		http://mitpress.mit.edu/	

	Mouton de Gruyter          
		http://www.mouton-publishers.com	

	Oxford University Press          
		http://www.oup.com/us	

	Rodopi          
		http://www.rodopi.nl/	

OTHER SUPPORTING PUBLISHERS	

	Graduate Linguistic Students' Assoc., Umass
		http://glsa.hypermart.net/ 

	International Pragmatics Assoc.
		http://ipra-www.uia.ac.be/ipra/ 

	Kingston Press Ltd
		http://www.kingstonpress.com/ 

	MIT Working Papers in Linguistics
		http://web.mit.edu/mitwpl/ 

	Multilingual Matters
		http://www.multilingual-matters.com/ 

	Pacific Linguistics
		http://pacling.anu.edu.au/ 

	Palgrave Macmillan
		http://www.palgrave.com 

	SIL International
		http://www.ethnologue.com/bookstore.asp 

	St. Jerome Publishing Ltd.
		http://www.stjerome.co.uk 

	Utrecht Institute of Linguistics / LOT Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistic
		http://www-uilots.let.uu.nl/ 

-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-16-784	