Introducing Syntax

Cambridge Introductions to Language and Linguistics

by Olaf Koeneman, Hedde Zeijlstra

Syntax is the system of rules that we subconsciously follow when we build sentences. Whereas the grammar of English (or other languages) might look like a rather chaotic set of arbitrary patterns, linguistic science has revealed that these patterns can actually be understood as the result of a small number of grammatical principles. This lively introductory textbook is designed for undergraduate students in linguistics, English and modern languages with relatively little background in the subject, offering the necessary tools for the analysis of phrases and sentences while at the same time introducing state-of-the-art syntactic theory in an accessible and engaging way. Guiding students through a variety of intriguing puzzles, striking facts and novel ideas, Introducing Syntax presents contemporary insights into syntactic theory in one clear and coherent narrative, avoiding unnecessary detail and enabling readers to understand the rationale behind technicalities. Aids to learning include highlighted key terms, suggestions for further reading and numerous exercises, placing syntax in a broader grammatical perspective.

Genres: Linguistics, Language, Nonfiction

314 pages, Hardcover

Published May 18, 2017

Reviews

[Jérôme Manno · Rating 3 out of 5]

duidelijk geschreven, het concept was iets minder interessant. het einde was wel een plottwist, die had ik niet zien aankomen. al met al, zeker een ervaring.

[Irma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Beze i predugo bez razloga

[Larissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

bullshit

[Yakoushi · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Written originally as a post scriptum:) I actually reread this book for a class. My first reading was back in 2022, when my knowledge of linguistic theory was much inferior, and, not surprisingly, the book helped me back then. My rating reflects this second reading experience. But the rating matters less than the book, which is good for its own purposes, so just go read it at once if you're a newcomer interested in (minimalist) generative syntax.

As an introduction, the book delivers what it proposes to offer, by virtue of which I could only make a fair judgement if I were able to give a double rating: one for my personal reading experience, and another for the general quality of its contents, which I consider pleasing. As someone with an intermediate knowledge of minimalist syntactic theory, there were some special aspects of the book from which I was able to extract some interest and/or utility.

Firstly, the apparent freshness used to express curiosity over linguistic phenomena (which Chomsky sums up in his «willingness to be puzzled» quote) is nice and can make the experienced reader re-achieve the feeling of being new to the field, even if just for a moment. Truly therapeutic for a syntactician to get his treelets as the child does her sweets.

Secondly, the syntactic relations and operations are tidily organised and introduced to the reader in a didactic manner. Of course, this makes for short usefulness, if one is to deal with more complicated phenomena. But the book doesn't purport to present exhaustive definitions, whence one knows himself to be looking in the wrong place if he wishes to access the more rigorous technicalia of the field. All in all, the authors do manage to pin down the crucial aspects of those relations and operations, whereby one can remember what this or that operation might «be about», or «conceptualise», if he's perchance lost in the sea of different definitions and reformulations of Agree, principles of Binding Theory, Case relations and perhaps even Merge itself. As much as it's the linguist's responsibility to deal with all that, it's also the linguist's inner human's right merely to be tired of intricacies and want to just revisit what the basic essence of the operations and relations even are. This book is not the only one to concede that to the reader, but it's good with it.

Thirdly, the data are curated to bring the reader's attention to some facts that show such relevance to linguistic theory as to become staples of the generative enterprise (sensitivity to local relations and domains; binding phenomena; syntactic features; movement and restrictions thereof; Case relations, yaddayaddayadda). Together with the fact only English data are contemplated, this has obvious negative side effects. Not focusing on them, however, helps one to see in this at least one quality: such curation aids the reader to remember the essential properties of historically significant syntactic phenomena, as well as to develop an initial instinct for recognising potentially pertinent patterns in data, which might lead him to a discovery about the grammar.

That's what I've separated as personal benefits with the book, phrased in a way to express how they might also serve as others benefits. Apart from them, on the other hand, a reader with intermediate to advanced knowledge of syntax can feel outright bored with the book. I wonder to what extent one should expect this, and I'm not sure I'd paint it as a defect of the book. It does what it says: it introduces syntax to the layman. And it actually does it well, methinks, notwithstanding some criticisable decisions, such as the representation of adjunction chosen (adjunction to X'/intermediate projections) and too heavy a simplification of phenomena/technical repertoire at times. I guess I understand why the authors chose such path, though. Perhaps it's better for the uninitiated to acquaint himself with more rigorous discussions after he's been... well, introduced to syntax.

To summarise: the book is good if one's a newbie syntactician/minimalist and less so if one's already familiar with the field, albeit he can nevertheless detect some value in it. In any event, I suppose it'll make a worthwhile read — a fun and light one, in the least.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did a good job of explaining relatively complicated syntactic items with relative simplicity and with many clear examples. In comparison to the previous book I read about Syntax, it's got a very different way of explaining things. Personally I felt that the previous book may have been a bit easier to get into, whereas this feels a bit more abrupt and doesn't always make the links as clear (as well as presenting a /lot/ of information at once, which I feel can be a bit overwhelming), it did a really good job and if you're in need of a good Syntax book to start I do recommend this!

[Olivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great and complete introduction to syntax. Written lucidly and accessible. Very in-depth towards the final chapters. Too much focused on English

[Zibi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's unfortunate the book doesn't give more examples from languages other than English.