Modularity in Syntax: A Study of Japanese and English

This book clarifies some of the central issues in Japanese syntax, pointing the way to solving several long-standing problems. It presents an alternative to the Standard Theory, a model which has dominated Japanese linguistics for a number of years.

Following the study of the syntactic and lexical levels of representation in Japanese, the book brings the same theoretical perspective to bear on English. Although Japanese, a so-called nonconfigurational language, is typologically far removed from Indo-European languages, Farmer shows that Modular Grammar, which was primarily developed to account for an exotic language, yields insights into English as well, In particular, she examines the status of pronouns and anaphors. Aspects of Government Binding theory are adapted for both Japanese and English, providing significant evidence that still-evolving theories have wide and possibly universal validity.

Modularity in Syntax concludes by comparing Japanese and English, speculating on the extent to which the typological differences between them are a function of the nature of the rules and principles that mediate between the syntax and the lexical structure of the two languages.

This book is the ninth in the series, Current Studies in Linguistics, edited by Samuel Jay Keyser.

Ann K. Farmer, PhD, is an Information Engineer at Google.