Syntax: A Generative Introduction

by Andrew Carnie

Andrew Carnie’s bestselling textbook on syntax has guided thousands of students through the discipline of theoretical syntax; retaining its popularity due to its combination of straightforward language, comprehensive coverage, and numerous exercises. In this third edition, topics have been updated, new exercises added, and the online resources have been expanded. Supported by expanded online student and instructor resources, including extra chapters on HPSG,  LFG and time-saving materials for lecturers, including problem sets, PowerPoint slides, and an instructors’ manual Features new chapters on ellipsis, auxiliaries, and non-configurational languages Covers topics including phrase structure, the lexicon, Case theory, movement, covert movement, locality conditions, VP shells, and control Accompanied by a new optional workbook, available separately, of sample problem sets which are designed to give students greater experience of analyzing syntactic structure

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Language, Textbooks, Reference, School, Academic

544 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 26, 2002

About the author

Professor of Linguistics
Faculty Director, Graduate College and Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs
University of Arizona

Reviews

[Paz Alonso]

exam in 2 weeks. i can't even rate this.

[Isa Godoy]

I've never put a textbook on Goodreads before, but I've also never read a textbook from cover to cover until now, so I've decided that this SOB deserves a place in this year's list. Do I recommend? Sure, if syntax X-bar theory and phrasal movement are things you're into. Or, if you're like me and you had the genius idea of writing your honours thesis on syntax before realizing how complicated that would be. As far as textbooks go, this one wasn't like eating an unsalted saltine... more like a wheat thin. I wouldn't recommend reading it, but I will probably read it again anyway.

[Lily Tice Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Syntax is such a tricky, tricky beast to learn, but this book made it worth it. I'm so used to Sahara-dry linguistics textbooks and this was a delight (well, for a textbook). The chapters were broken down into manageable sections, each syntactic phenomenon was explained as clearly as could be reasonably expected (given how ridiculously nuancy syntactic theory is), and most importantly, the examples were usually subtly hilarious. I'm a big fan of using humor to cope with how mindnumbingly difficult syntax is, because let's face it... SYNTACTICIANS ARE HILARIOUS (promiscuous case, anyone?). Would definitely recommend for all your syntax needs.

[Grace Co · Rating 1 out of 5]

i learned this is not what i want to do with my life, neither the topic or the act of reading about the topic. this book makes me feel like im wasting the best years of my life trapped inside the hackneyed drivel of a syntactician.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're a dewey-eyed, impressionable undergraduate with a budding passion for syntax and an unquestioning belief in anything Chomsky says, you might find this book a good place to start. If you're smart, or a graduate student, or enjoy knowing things that are true about the world when you open a non-fiction book, stay away.

[Remus Rimbu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is extremely well written and provides a self-contained introduction to generative grammar, the theoretical framework used to analyse syntax in the Chomskyan tradition. On that front it succeds admirably in presenting methodology, terminology and theory that is still relevant for understanding the current Minimalist approach. However, the theory presented here (the principles and parameters approach) was popular in the 80s but is abandoned today in favor of Chomsky's Minimalist program. Useful as a stepping stone towards that theory for anyone interested in the structure of our subconscious knowledge of grammar.

[Rebecca Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carnie puts forth linguistics in a very easy-to-read fashion with a lot of examples from "real life" languages. He also has an exercise book that goes well with the text, though I did not purchase it. The exercises and challenge sets at the end of each chapter are great, too, but he does not provide the answers. Nice to be able to work on your knowledge of syntax, though! Overall a very good text book, down to earth and easier to read than most other syntax options.

[Bahareh Sharifi · Rating 4 out of 5]

فکر می کنم اگر کسی در فهم دستور گشتاری چامسکی دچار مشکل باشد این کتاب کمک زیادی به او خواهد کرد. کتاب به ساده ترین شکل ممکن به ببرسی مفاهیم و نظریات مرتبط با دستور گشتاری چامسکی پرداخته و مسائل پیچیده نظریه چامسکی را قابل فهم کرده است. توصیه می کنم برای درک بهتر کتاب حتما بیشتر از یک بار مطالعه شود. این کتاب در حال حاضر در دانشگاه آریزونای آمریکا تدریس می شود و خوشحالم که در دانشگاه های ایران هم این منبع به روز مورد استفاده قرار گرفته است.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

The constant let's assume that this is true to prove our next theory really started to wear on me.

[Freya Abbas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Syntax is one of my weak areas in linguistics and this book helped me a lot. The explanations are clear, concise and to-the-point. I compared this with a different syntax textbook and this book is far better. The chapter summaries are also very useful for revising while studying. There are plenty of practice questions and challenge problems. It would be nice if some of these contained walk-throughs or answers for how to do them. I recommend getting this book with the companion workbook, which has easier questions but with answers. You can get both the textbook and the workbook for free on LibGen.

[Rouya Majid Nasiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woah! This made my life easier.
Everything well-explained with relevant examples and comprehensive analysis.
I thought it would give me a hard time, but thank god that was not the case because I seriously was in no mood of taking up such a challenge.
Well done, Carnie. This book was both informative and on point.

[Aman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise, informative, and theoretical introduction to the theory of generative grammar, filled with loads of useful example sentences and trees.

Something to note is that, as it progresses, it seems to contain some errors (e.g. incorrect indexes, missing arrows in trees, etc.).

[محمد حسين ضاحي · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to syntax, especially in the framework initiated by Chomsky, and developed into today's Minimalist Program.
From reading How to Study Linguistics: A Guide to Understanding Language. Palgrave Study Guides. I have come to learn that there are two broad approaches to syntax: the ‘formalist’ and the ‘functional’. The formalist approach is represented in many theories, three of which are this book, namely, the P & P, LFG and HPSG.
Besides learning much about the aforementioned theories and especially learning the P & P theory, I admired the author's acknowledgement of the credit of and recommendation of Liliane Haegeman's Introduction to Government and Binding Theory, Elizabeth Cowper's A Concise Introduction to Syntactic Theory: The Government-Binding Approach and Andrew Radford's books, having myself read the first and benefited much from the latter's books. He passed to the reader a useful advice from his teacher Ken Hale which is worth mentioning. I quote here the author's words:

theoretical syntax is best informed by cross-linguistic research; while at the same time, the accurate documentation of languages requires a sophisticated understanding of grammatical theory.

The book is divided into 5 parts, but I'd like to divide it otherwise into 3 parts: the first 15 chapters together, and the other two each on its own, where- using quotes from the book-

The first fifteen chapters of this textbook are an introduction to syntactic theory from ... the perspective of the Chomskyan Principles and Parameters (P&P) approach (and its descendant: Minimalism). ... and the 16th we look at two other popular formalisms: Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG) and Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG).

These three theories belong to the formalist approach to syntax. Carnie says:
"LFG and HPSG are considered to be generative grammars, just like P&P. Where all these theories differ is in the precise formulation of the rules and constraints."
Then he answers an important question: "Is there one correct theory or what is the best theory of all?" saying
"choosing among formalisms ... to a great degree comes down to a matter of the range of phenomena one wants to account for and one’s preferred means of formal expression."
Also, he advises that

"most researchers do their work within only one formalism. But this doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be familiar with other formalisms too. An important body of work is conducted in these formalisms, and their results are often directly relevant to work being done in Chomskyan P&P syntax. Being able to interpret work done in these alternative approaches is a very useful skill (and unfortunately, one rarely taught to beginning syntacticians [like myself, the reviewer]). The results found in other approaches to syntax have often affected the development of P&P theory."

Yet from readings in fiqh "Islamic jurisprudence" I have come to know that you ought to start with one theory or one perspective until you gain full command of it, the you may go into studying another theory or perspective thus getting great insights into your topic (It's kind of doing a comparative study).
Also, one of the things I admired in the book, which I always I admire, is the recommendations or suggested readings section.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oof, finally finished reading this book, and now I'm not sure what to say about it. It's good.

Sometimes (especially in the early parts of the book) it feels like they're going over everything a bit too slowly and deliberately, and your attention starts to wander, and then other times you're desperately trying to remember all the logical steps in an argument and to keep apart the various principles and rules, and the reasons why each of them was necessary. But I think that's just the nature of the beast that is syntax.

It's definitely worth reading the extra chapters that are available online that deal very quickly with some alternative approaches to generative syntax. They don't get the chance to really shine, but it's nice to see what else is out there. Bear in mind that you still won't have seen anywhere close to everything there is to the world of syntax. There's nothing on lambda calculus, for example. Nor does this offer any insight into alternatives to the view that there is a poverty of the stimulus and you need such a thing as universal grammar—something I was never fully convinced by.

However, as a starting point to one of the most popular approaches to analyzing syntax: Principles & Parameters (and Minimalism), it is certainly a good book, and it offers many suggestions for further reading all the way through.

[Isabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you have the option to use another textbook, do so.
I can't deny that concepts are explained very well, but the flow of the chapters leaves a lot to be desired. You'll constantly be told to forget what you had just learned (i.e. how to draw trees) in the previous chapter, and replace it with some new concept. There are not enough examples which recap what you have learned previously with the new additions to the grammar structure.
Not user friendly.

[Marcus Lira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carnie's style is great: This book is very pleasant to read and the concepts are very easy to grasp. As an outsider (I'm a functional typologist, so to speak), I just thought it was odd that, except for the exercises, English was ubiquitous. But, I guess that's true of most books on generative grammar...

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best gentle introduction to government and binding theory out there. Does a great job of leading the reader through the reasoning behind each bit of the theory. But for this reason, it's nearly useless for reference (which, of course, is not what it's meant for).

[Gofita · Rating 3 out of 5]

It made me wish I understood Syntax better! But as a textbook it was pretty decent, but it also helped that I had an amazing professor to get me through!

[highwayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

First things first, having a professor who is decidedly a hardcore cognitive linguist whose whole profession outside the classroom is built on taking apart generative grammar made this a very interesting read. But in general, I found it a relatively clear book (some parts were crazy confusing, but that might just be on me). Secondly, however, this was not a satisfying read!!! I know that’s the point but assuming something to be true for a chapter and then discarding it immediately after gets old real quick. I know Carnie said that it would happen in the beginning of the book and golly, he was not lying. But it made it hard to know what was still in use and what was outdated. That’s my biggest hangup I think. Hardest class I’ve taken in college so far. Got an A though so who am I to complain.

[Valeria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I study hispanic linguistics, I believe that this introduction is very useful, although, obviously, it is quite focus on English grammar. Thus, in the last chapters, there are some concepts and examples that didn't help me to understand it. Nonetheless, I true believe that it is and excellent introduction and textbook.

[Joseph D'Aquisto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of taking a course in Syntax taught by the the author himself Andrew Carnie in 2010 at University of Arizona. The book was very helpful and it was great being able to have the author as the professor in order to explain any questions I had about the book. Syntax is not an easy subject. I studied hard and long, but did come out with an A.

[Ale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iummato

[Jared Collier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid overall presentation of Generative Syntax, ranging from basic principles to sophisticated generative-based analyses of language phenomena.

[Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hated every minute of it

[Ghada · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent must-read book for any linguistics student. Helped me greatly to understand the nuts and bolts of constituency and xbar.

[Iamsaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to read this book over and over
as I am actually reading it again :)
if you are interesting in understanding how languages' structure are, read it.

[Shaima]

.

[pəˈteɪtəʊ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why does this book makes the binding theory harder than it should be. You complicate things, man ¦|
Why couldn't you just quit the chitchat and give me some various examples to understand.

[Beatriz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una introducción bastante buena y bien explicada de sintaxis, sobre todo, ayuda a entender la teoría de la X'. Espero que me ayude en el examen, lol.

[Mahmoud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise and detailed.