Book: Syntactic Theory

[Philippe Blache]

From: CSLI Publications <pubs at csli.Stanford.EDU>



CSLI Publications is pleased to announce the publication of "Syntactic
Theory: A Formal Introduction" by Ivan A. Sag and Thomas Wasow.

"Syntactic Theory: A Formal Introduction" is unlike any other introductory
textbook on the market, marking a return to 'generative grammar' in its
original sense. Emphasizing the prediction and evaluation of grammatical
hypothesis, the integration of syntactic hypotheses with matters of
syntactic analysis, and problem solving, this textbook is considered to be
"the best available introduction to unification-based syntactic theory."
This "elegant" textbook focuses on the development of precisely formulated
grammars whose empirical predictions can be directly tested. This volume
begins by exploring the inadequacy of context-free phrase structure
grammars, motivating the introduction of feature structures, types, and
type constraints as ways of expressing linguistic generalizations. Step by
step, the student is led to discover a grammar that covers the core areas
of English syntax that have been central to syntactic theory in the last
quarter century, including: complementation, control, 'raising'
constructions, passives, the auxiliary system, and the analysis of long
distance dependency constructions. "'Syntactic Theory' sets a new standard
for introductory syntax volumes that all future books should be measured
against."

An Instructor's Manual is under development for use in conjunction with
Syntactic Theory and will be completed by late summer. If you would like to
adopt this book for a course please contact CSLI Publications,
pubs at roslin.stanford.edu, or our distributor, Cambridge University Press,
1-800-872-7423.

For further detailed information on this exciting new textbook -- including
table of contents, comments from instructors, and sample chapters -- please
visit CSLI Publications' website,
http://csli-publications.stanford.edu/1575861607.html.

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