ABSTRACT

The second edition of this invaluable introductory text takes account of developments in syntactic studies. Dealing with the whole range of syntax, this book explains, in a lucid and approachable way, why linguists have adopted certain solutions to problems and not others.
This book introduces the basic concepts used in the description of syntax, independently of any single model of grammar. Profusely illustrated with diagrams, there are sets of exercises for every chapter which can be used in class or by students working independently.

chapter |8 pages

Introduction

part one|144 pages

Constituent structure

chapter 1|12 pages

Constituent structure

chapter 2|16 pages

Form classes

chapter 3|12 pages

Constituent structure grammar

chapter 4|10 pages

Formal grammars

chapter 5|21 pages

Verbs and nouns

chapter 6|7 pages

Adjectives and prepositions

chapter 7|10 pages

Optional constituents

chapter 8|16 pages

Intermediate levels of structure

chapter 9|9 pages

Embedding, recursion and ambiguity

chapter 10|18 pages

Relations between sentences

chapter 11|10 pages

The sentence

part two|101 pages

Morphology

chapter 12|19 pages

Words and morphemes

chapter 13|17 pages

Morphemes and morphs

chapter 14|33 pages

The morphology of the English verb

chapter 15|10 pages

Lexical morphology

chapter 16|20 pages

Form classes and grammatical categories

part three|116 pages

Functional relations

chapter 18|21 pages

Processes and participants

chapter 19|30 pages

Grammatical functions

chapter 20|28 pages

Sentences in texts