Re: X-Bar Theory

Regarding books:

The one discussed earlier whose name/author the poster couldn't quite
remember should be _Understanding Syntax_ by Maggie Tallerman. However, it
doesn't really address X-bar issues because it tries to take a less
denominational approach (surprisingly, certain beginning linguistics
textbooxs treat Chomsky as the gospel without even mentioning that other
analyses exist).

I agree with Jesse, incidentally, in that though it may not be "wrong" for
any moral reason to start with formal syntax, I would generally only do so
as an experiment as I'd find it far too limiting for the creative process to
take hold. This is especially the case with the ol' Chomskyan theory--not to
get too controversial, but I found its treatment of VSO languages to be
completely unsatisfactory (how could *every* sentence require a
"transformation?" Could the brain *really* work this way?). Do any of the
Celtic-language speakers out there have preferred syntactic models?

----------
Josh Brandt-Young <vionau@...>
"After the tempest I behold, once more, the weasel."
(Mispronunciation of Ancient Greek)