Modularity in Syntax – a Study of Japanese & English: Study of Japanese and English (Current Studies in Linguistics) - Hardcover

Farmer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262060876 ISBN 13: 9780262060875

Publisher: MIT Press, 1984

Synopsis

This book clarifies some of the central issues in Japanese syntax, pointing the way to solving several long-standing problems. It presents an alternative to the Standard Theory, a model which has dominated Japanese linguistics for a number of years.

Following the study of the syntactic and lexical levels of representation in Japanese, the book brings the same theoretical perspective to bear on English. Although Japanese, a so-called nonconfigurational language, is typologically far removed from Indo-European languages, Farmer shows that Modular Grammar, which was primarily developed to account for an "exotic" language, yields insights into English as well, In particular, she examines the status of pronouns and anaphors. Aspects of Government Binding theory are adapted for both Japanese and English, providing significant evidence that still-evolving theories have wide and possibly universal validity.

Modularity in Syntax concludes by comparing Japanese and English, speculating on the extent to which the typological differences between them are a function of the nature of the rules and principles that mediate between the syntax and the lexical structure of the two languages.

Ann Farmer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics, at the University of Arizona. This book is the ninth in the series, Current Studies in Linguistics, edited by Samuel Jay Keyser.

About this title

Review

" Ann Farmer's "Modularity in Syntax "develops a comprehensive approach to a variety of topics that have been central to recent investigations in the theory of language. She shows how many problems of English and Japanese grammar received natural solutions within her modular theory, including questions of predicate-argument structure, configurationality, anaphora, control, and others. The result is a substantial contribution to linguistic theory, offering an important and in many ways novel perspective that merits careful study." - Noam Chomsky & quot; Ann Farmer's Modularity in Syntax develops a comprehensive approach to a variety of topics that have been central to recent investigations in the theory of language. She shows how many problems of English and Japanese grammar received natural solutions within her modular theory, including questions of predicate-argument structure, configurationality, anaphora, control, and others. The result is a substantial contribution to linguistic theory, offering an important and in many ways novel perspective that merits careful study.& quot; - Noam Chomsky "Ann Farmer's "Modularity in Syntax "develops a comprehensive approach to a variety of topics that have been central to recent investigations in the theory of language. She shows how many problems of English and Japanese grammar received natural solutions within her modular theory, including questions of predicate-argument structure, configurationality, anaphora, control, and others. The result is a substantial contribution to linguistic theory, offering an important and in many ways novel perspective that merits careful study." - Noam Chomsky "Ann Farmer's "Ann Farmer's "Modularity in Syntax" develops a comprehensive approach to a variety of topics that have been central to recent investigations in the theory of language. She shows how many problems of English and Japanese grammar received natural solutions within her modular theory, including questions of predicate-argument structure, configurationality, anaphora, control, and others. The result is a substantial contribution to linguistic theory, offering an important and in many ways novel perspective that merits careful study."--Noam Chomsky

About the Author

Ann K. Farmer is an Information Engineer at Google.

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262060876
• ISBN 13: 9780262060875
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 254