Mirrors and Microparameters: Phrase Structure beyond Free Word Order (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics)

Adger, David; Harbour, Daniel; Watkins, Laurel J.

ISBN 10: 0521517567 / ISBN 13: 9780521517560

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2009

About this Item

Hardback book in nearly new condition with just a small publisher's 'damaged' stamp; even so not showing any defects, no splits, no cracks, no pen-marks, just some very minor surface rubbing and moderate shelf wear. Contents are crisp, tight and fresh. Complete with original dustjacket, showing well, sharp and bright. Thus a never read book still in very presentable condition now offered for sale at a sensible price.

Seller Inventory # 108675

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mirrors and Microparameters: Phrase Structure beyond Free Word Order (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521517567
• ISBN 13: 9780521517560
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Like New
• Dust Jacket Condition: Like New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Language & Linguistics

About this title

Synopsis

What is the nature of syntactic structure? Why do some languages have radically free word order ('nonconfigurationality')? Do parameters vary independently (the micro-view) or can they co-vary en masse (the macro-view)? Mirrors and Microparameters examines these questions by looking beyond the definitional criterion of nonconfigurationality - that arguments may be freely ordered, omitted, and split. Drawing on data from Kiowa, a member of the largely undescribed Kiowa-Tanoan language family, the book reveals that classically nonconfigurational languages can nonetheless exhibit robustly configurational effects. Reconciling the cooccurrence of such freedom with such rigidity has major implications for the Principles and Parameters program. This approach to nonconfigurational languages challenges widespread assumptions of linguistic theory and throws light on the syntactic structures, ordering principles, and nature of parametrization that comprise Universal Grammar.

About the Author

David Adger is Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Queen Mary, University of London.

Daniel Harbour is a lecturer in the Department of Linguistics at Queen Mary, University of London.

Laurel J. Watkins is Adjunct Associate Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics in the Department of Anthropology at Colorado College.