Words and Structure (Lecture Notes)

What kinds of words can exist in natural languages? How are sentences constructed? What is the relationship between a word and the sentence in which it appears? How do language learners figure all this out? Presenting over a decade of original research, Words and Structures collects four influential papers that address the theory of words, the structure of sentences, and the relationship between the two. Jane Grimshaw sheds new light on the fundamental questions of the nature of word meanings, sentence structure, and language acquisition. Those interested in the puzzles of language learning but dissatisfied with current theories and models will find this an indispensable volume on the subject.

Jane Grimshaw is Professor of Linguistics and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University.