Fundamentals of French Syntax

Christopher Gledhill This book provides an accessible syntax of French as well as a grounding in the fundamental principles of syntactic theory, unhindered by considerations of theory and cross-linguistic comparisons. The aim is to describe modern French in breadth rather than to analyse problems of theory in depth. Each chapter progressively develops a system of notation that is consistent with current approaches to generative grammar, but which allows the reader to describe a wider variety of linguistic features of French than is normally associated with model-based grammars. After studying this book, learners should be able to move on to texts both in generative theory and comparative studies of French and other Romance languages. The book uses corpus-driven data and also incorporates core ideas from systemic-functional grammar. An original feature of the book is that each section has copious examples, exercises and model answers. Contents: 1 Phrases 2 Clauses 3 Complex Phrases 4 Complex Clauses 5 Phrases and Groups 6 Lexico-grammar 7 Moving on: structural and systemic theories of syntax.