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Syntax: Theory and Problems
This work introduces general readers and scholars from other disciplines who wish to learn linguistic methodology to linguistic analysis of sentences and phrases within a Government and Binding framework. The issues discussed are nonetheless fundamental to all modern theories of syntax, and prepare readers to read articles written in a diversity of theories. Each chapter concludes with a brief summary of the picture of the theory developed thus far, and the multiple problem sets cover English, Japanese, and Romance languages. Comprehensive yet accessible, Theory and Problems ennables readers to approach linguistic literature framed by the modern theories of today, and to approach the issues discussed in that literature with an open mind.
- GenresLinguistics
616 pages, Paperback
First published April 8, 1993
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About the author
Donna Jo Napoli
141 books1,112 followersDonna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and YA fiction. She loves to garden and bake bread, and even dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to make the neighbors wonder. But dear dear Taxi died in 2009.
She has five children, seven grandchildren, and currently lives outside Philadelphia. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. It was at UM that she earned tenure (in 1981) and became a full professor (in 1984). She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Capital Normal University of Beijing (China), the University of Newcastle (UK), the University of Venice at Ca' Foscari (Italy), and the Siena School for the Liberal Arts (Italy) as well as lectured at the University of Sydney (Australia), Macquarie University (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and held a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin. In the area of linguistics she has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited 17 books, ranging from theoretical linguistics to practical matters in language structure and use, including matters of interest to d/Deaf people. She has held grants and fellowships from numerous sources, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the Sloan Foundation.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to make the neighbors wonder. But dear dear Taxi died in 2009.
She has five children, seven grandchildren, and currently lives outside Philadelphia. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. It was at UM that she earned tenure (in 1981) and became a full professor (in 1984). She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Capital Normal University of Beijing (China), the University of Newcastle (UK), the University of Venice at Ca' Foscari (Italy), and the Siena School for the Liberal Arts (Italy) as well as lectured at the University of Sydney (Australia), Macquarie University (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and held a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin. In the area of linguistics she has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited 17 books, ranging from theoretical linguistics to practical matters in language structure and use, including matters of interest to d/Deaf people. She has held grants and fellowships from numerous sources, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the Sloan Foundation.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 22, 2015
I began reading Napoli's Syntax full of optimism. On my own, I am studying syntactic order and constituency in English and other languages. As the eighth overview or introduction to formal syntax I have read, I thought I would be able to breeze through the problem sets. For the first few chapters this was the case. However, the book veers violently into conundrum and paradox, asking many complex questions but offering no answers, except to hint at times that there are no answers. This might be a good book for the classroom, where a professor could draw rational ideas out of the students by the Socratic method. On your own however, the book gets pretty opaque and frustrating pretty fast.
So if you are studying Syntax independently, I suggest going the route of Carnie's Syntax AND the workbook too. Carnie's workbook provides all the answers so the reader can practice drawing trees and building arguments without getting bogged down in a morass of imponderabilia. Carnie's writing style is lucid and based on more up-to-date research and findings. And by doing all of the exercises the reader can embark on a confidence inspiring tour, learning to appreciate the value and purpose of syntactic structures and movement. Other authors have also provided clearer introductions to the MIT strain of syntax, even if the works I am thinking of are just as dated as Napoli's Syntax. Andrew Radford's older textbooks on X-bar theory and Elizabeth Cowper's concise introduction on Government and Binding orthodoxy are both brief and succinct bodies of evidence that syntactic abstractions are real phenomena deserving of serious study.
Such evidence is apparent as well in Napoli's Syntax. But outside of the first few chapters, that evidence is very hard to get at or interpret.
So if you are studying Syntax independently, I suggest going the route of Carnie's Syntax AND the workbook too. Carnie's workbook provides all the answers so the reader can practice drawing trees and building arguments without getting bogged down in a morass of imponderabilia. Carnie's writing style is lucid and based on more up-to-date research and findings. And by doing all of the exercises the reader can embark on a confidence inspiring tour, learning to appreciate the value and purpose of syntactic structures and movement. Other authors have also provided clearer introductions to the MIT strain of syntax, even if the works I am thinking of are just as dated as Napoli's Syntax. Andrew Radford's older textbooks on X-bar theory and Elizabeth Cowper's concise introduction on Government and Binding orthodoxy are both brief and succinct bodies of evidence that syntactic abstractions are real phenomena deserving of serious study.
Such evidence is apparent as well in Napoli's Syntax. But outside of the first few chapters, that evidence is very hard to get at or interpret.
Displaying 1 of 1 review