LINGUIST List 11.1758

Tue Aug 15 2000

Books: Semantics & Syntax

Editor for this issue: Scott Fults <scottlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Elliott A Moreton, Semantics & Syntax: Topics in Ellipsis, B. Schwarz

Schwarz, Bernhard (U. of Massachusetts dissertation): Topics in
Ellipsis. 178pp. Available as book ($16) or CD-ROM ($12).

For more information, or to order, visit
http://www.umass.edu/linguist/GLSA/

>From the author's abstract:

"The term ellipsis, broadly construed, applies to syntactic structures that
seem to host obligatory positions not filled with overt lexical material.
More narrowly construed, the term refers to a hypothetical grammatical
process that deprives lexical material of its phonetic content. This
dissertation explores ellipsis in both the broader and the narrower sense
of the term. The three questions it addresses, with respect to different
constructions, are the following. First, does the syntactic structure host
a relevant silent position to begin with, and hence is it a case of
ellipsis even in the broad sense of the term? Second, assuming the
presence of silent structure, how does this structure come to be silent?
Specifically, does it involve a grammatical process of ellipsis in the
narrow sense? Third, assuming a process of ellipsis is at work, what are
the constraints on this process?"