LINGUIST List 9.1142

Mon Aug 17 1998

Books: Syntax

Editor for this issue: Martin Jacobsen <martylinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Rebecca Wipfler, Syntax

Runner, Jeffrey T.; Noun Phrase Licensing; 0-8153-3134-7, cloth;
pages, $62; Garland Publishing; Outstanding Dissertations in
Linguistics

	This book examines the syntax of direct object noun phrases in
English within the Principles and Parameters, specifically Chomsky's
Minimalist Program, approach to generative grammar. The main focus is
on the phrase structural positions of object noun phrases at the
various levels of representation, and secondarily on the relationship
between structural position and semantic interpretation. Supported by
a variety of empirical and conceptual arguments, the central claim of
the book is that direct object noun phrases in English surface in a
VP-external position; a secondary claim is that while in the overt
syntax direct objects appear VP-externally, their position at the
level of "logical form" varies depending on interpretation. Four basic
constructions are studied: simple transitive clauses, transitive
clauses with prepositional objects, the "raising to object"
construction, and the "double object" construction. The particular
mismatches observed between overt and covert syntax are argued to
follow from a non-movement-based mapping among levels of
representation; specifically the author employs and further develops
the "copy and delete" approach to movement which, combined with
general principles regulating the licensing of phrases at various
levels of representation, accounts for the observed mismatches, as
well as neatly extending to two further constructions: the existential
and stylistic inversion constructions. This book will be of interest
to scholars in the areas of phrase structure syntax, English and
Germanic syntax, the syntax-semantics interface, and all areas of
generative approaches to syntax.

E-mail: infogarland.com

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