
Specifiers
Minimalist Approaches
Oxford University Press
Published on 25. March 1999
Book
Hardback
360 pages
978-0-19-823813-3 (ISBN)
Description
By the late 1980s, Government and Binding Theory - which was central to almost all research in generative grammar - threatened to become as large and as intricate as the language it described. To counter this, Noam Chomsky introduced a minimalist program with the aim of making explanations of language as simple and general as possible. It has since gained widespread (if not quite universal) acceptance, to the extent that the most recent first-year textbook in syntax (Radford, CUP, 1997) is based on it.
One of the areas subjected to this minimalist scrutiny has been phrase structure, the fundamental basis of grammar. This book focuses on the most controversial area of phrase structure, the notion of specifiera notion encompassing the traditional categories of subjects, possessors, determiners, auxiliaries, and adjuncts. It examines what place the notion has in the new theory and how the projection of specifiers is to be eliminated or extended.
The contributors (prominent American, British, and European scholars) draw on empirical, theoretical research in cross-linguistic phenomena and first and second language acquisition. The substantial introductory chapter provides an up-to-date account of minimalist syntactic theory and a critical evaluation of the notion of specifier within it.
One of the areas subjected to this minimalist scrutiny has been phrase structure, the fundamental basis of grammar. This book focuses on the most controversial area of phrase structure, the notion of specifiera notion encompassing the traditional categories of subjects, possessors, determiners, auxiliaries, and adjuncts. It examines what place the notion has in the new theory and how the projection of specifiers is to be eliminated or extended.
The contributors (prominent American, British, and European scholars) draw on empirical, theoretical research in cross-linguistic phenomena and first and second language acquisition. The substantial introductory chapter provides an up-to-date account of minimalist syntactic theory and a critical evaluation of the notion of specifier within it.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
8 figures
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
656 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-823813-3 (9780198238133)
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Book
03/1999
Oxford University Press
€67.30
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Editor
Department of Language and Linguistic ScienceDepartment of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York
Department of Language and Linguistic ScienceDepartment of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York
Department of Language and Linguistic ScienceDepartment of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York
Department of Language and Linguistic ScienceDepartment of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York
Content
Introduction ; Specifiers in Generative Grammar ; Specifiers as Secondary Heads ; Without Specifiers ; Filling and Licensing Multiple Specifiers ; EPP without Spec, IP ; Spec-Head Agreement and Case in Arabice ; The Specifier-Adjunct Distinction ; The wh effect and Multiple Wh-fronting ; Nominal and Verbal Projections ; Dependencies and Extractions ; Movement to Specifiers ; Wh and the Locality of Feature Checking ; Specifiers and Finiteness ; Spec-Head Relationships in Child Swedish ; Some Specs on Specs in L2 Acquistion