Re: X-Bar Theory
| From: | SMITH,MARCUS ANTHONY <smithma@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, July 25, 2002, 21:03 |
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On Wed, 24 Jul 2002, David Peterson wrote:
> From
> what I've seen, it seems highly impractical, and doesn't seem to fit every
> language.
Part of the problem with X-bar Theory is that it is so vague that anything
can be made to conform with it. Virtually any sequence of words that
can be said can be made to fit this model. There is no way to prove that
X-Bar Theory is false given the mechanisms that accompany it, particularly
"null morphemes" and "movement".
> Nevertheless, I can recommend a book on it. Uh...that is, if I
> can find it... Shoot; I spoke too soon! My general linguistics book
> Contemporary Linguistics (fourth edition, ISBN 0-312-24738-9) goes into it,
> but not in as much detail as this book which is simply called Syntax. It's a
If you want to get into all this Generative Syntax stuff I would
recommend:
Introduction to Government and Binding Theory, by Liliane Haegeman (this
is a classic).
Syntax: A Minimalist Introduction, by Andrew Radford (a useful
introduction to Minimalist Grammar, though simplified a lot).
Syntactic Theory and the Structure of English, by Andrew Radford (same
book as the one immediately above, but more in depth.)
Marcus