Modularity in Syntax: Study of Japanese and English (Current Studies in Linguistics)

Farmer

ISBN 10: 0262060876 / ISBN 13: 9780262060875

Published by MIT Press, 1984

About this Item

Current Studies in Linguistics: Modularity in Syntax : A Study of Japanese and English by Ann Kathleen Farmer. Hardcover published in 1984 by MIT. Previous owners name inked on front endpaper. Possible sunning on spine.

Seller Inventory # 004239

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Modularity in Syntax: Study of Japanese and English (Current Studies in Linguistics)
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262060876
• ISBN 13: 9780262060875
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

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.

Ann Farmer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics, at the University of Arizona. This book is the ninth in the series, Current Studies in Linguistics, edited by Samuel Jay Keyser.

About the Author

Ann K. Farmer is an Information Engineer at Google.