LINGUIST List 13.3310
Tue Dec 17 2002
Books: Syntax: Hale & Keyser
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dgw, Prolegomenon to a Theory of Argument Structure
Message 1: Prolegomenon to a Theory of Argument Structure
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 14:09:09 +0000
From: dgw <dgwmit.edu>
Subject: Prolegomenon to a Theory of Argument Structure
Title: Prolegomenon to a Theory of Argument Structure
Series Title: Linguistic Inquiry Monograph
Publication Year: 2002
Publisher: MIT Press
http://mitpress.mit.edu/
Author: Ken Hale,
Author: Samuel Jay Keyser, MIT
Hardback: ISBN: 0262083086, Pages: 296, Price: $62
Paperback: ISBN: 0262582147, Pages: 296, Price: $25
Abstract:
This work is the culmination of an eighteen-year collaboration between
Ken Hale and Samuel Jay Keyser on the study of the syntax of lexical
items. It examines the hypothesis that the behavior of lexical items
may be explained in terms of a very small number of very simple
principles. In particular, a lexical item is assumed to project a
syntactic configuration defined over just two relations, complement
and specifier, where these configurations are constrained to preclude
iteration and to permit only binary branching. The work examines this
hypothesis by methodically looking at a variety of constructions in
English and other languages.
At the time of his death, Ken Hale was the Ferrari P. Ward Professor
Emeritus in Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Samuel Jay Keyser is the Peter de Florez Professor
Emeritus in Linguistics and Special Assistant to the Chancellor at
MIT. He is editor of the journal Linguistic Inquiry, the Linguistic
Inquiry Monograph Series, and the book series Current Studies in
Linguistics (all MIT Press).
"It is difficult to exaggerate the significance of this profound and
far-reaching inquiry into lexical semantics and its consequences for
the structure of expressions, drawing on a remarkable range of
empirical materials that are explored in depth with penetrating
insight. Ambitious, controversial, highly original, and provocative,
it is sure to be a landmark in the study of language."
- Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
"This book is an extraordinarily lucid presentation of Hale and
Keyser's insightful, and deservedly influential, approach to argument
structure. It is one more reminder of how much we will miss Ken Hale,
but how blessed we were to have him as long as we did."
- Howard Lasnik, Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland
Lingfield(s): Syntax
Written In: English (Language Code: ENG)