1st Edition

Generative Grammar Theory and its History

By Robert Freidin Copyright 2007
    400 Pages
    by Routledge

    408 Pages
    by Routledge

    Generative Grammar presents a substantial contribution to the field of linguistics in drawing together for the first time the author's most significant work on the theory of generative grammar.

    The essays collected here display Freidin's role in moving the theory forward in terms of new proposals, and analyse the efforts to understand the evolution and history of the theory by careful investigation of how and why it has changed over the years.

    1. Introduction Part I: Theory Movement 2.Cyclicity and the theory of grammar 3. Superiority, Subjacency, and Economy 4. Cyclicity and minimalism Case 5. Core grammar, case theory and markedness (with H. Lasnik) 6. Lexical case phenoemna (with Rex Sprouse) 7. On the sobject of defective T(ense) (with J. Lavine) Binding 8. Disjoint reference and wh-trace (with H. Lasnik) 9. On the fine structure of binding theory: Priciple A and reciprocals (with W. Harbert) 10. Fundamental issues in the theory of binding 11. Binding theory on minimalist assumptions Part II 12. Conceptual shifts in the science of grammar: 1952-1992 13. The analysis of passives 14. Linguistic theory and language acquisition: A note on structure dependence 15. review of Ideology and Linguistic Theory : Noam Chomsky and the deep structure debates by G. Huck and J. Goldsmith 16. review of The Minimalist Program by Noam Chomsky 17. Exquisite connections: some remarks on the evolution of linguistic theory (with Jean-Roger Vergnaud) 18. Syntactic Structures redux

    Biography

    Robert Freidin

    "Prolific and influential, Freidin (humanities, Princeton U.) has been publishing for the last sixty years. This collection of 18 papers, including an elegant and insightful introduction centers on the formal theory of linguistic structure that underlies linguistic performance. Freidin (on occasion with collaborators) addresses theories of movement, case, and binding, covering such topics as cyclicity and the theory of grammar; superiority, subjacency and economy; cyclicity and minimalism; core grammar, case theory and markedness; lexical case phenomena; the subject of defective T(ense) in Slavic; disjoint reference and wh-trace; the fine structure of the binding theory as expressed in Principle A and reciprocals; fundamental issues in the theory of binding; and binding theory on minimalist assumptions. Articles on history include an analysis of passives, structure-dependence in linguistic theory and language acquisition, conceptual shifts in grammar from 1951 to 1992, the evolution of linguistic theory, and reviews of works by Huck/Goldsmith and Chomsky." -- Book News Inc., August 2008