ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses a formal approach to linguistic variation and applies it in different areas: syntactic variation in synchronic grammars, the interface between syntax and semantics, and aspects of the grammar of multilingual individuals. It highlights the issues relevant for modeling the syntax-semantics interface. They are especially concerned with negation, interrogatives, and argument structure. The book provides a rather lengthy and comprehensive discussion of the history of generative grammar, mainly in the tradition emerging from Chomsky's work. It explores formal accounts of aspects of multilingualism. The book investigates grammatical gender in the heritage language American Norwegian. The book shows that for many of the speakers of American Norwegian, this gender system has changed quite significantly: There is overgeneralization of masculine forms to both the feminine and the neuter.
