A Notional Theory of Syntactic Categories

This book presents an innovative theory of syntactic categories and the lexical classes they define.

John M. Anderson (Author)

9780521580236, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 April 1997

368 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.71 kg

This book presents an innovative theory of syntactic categories and the lexical classes they define. It revives the traditional idea that these are to be distinguished notionally (semantically). It allows for there to be peripheral members of a lexical class which may not obviously conform to the general definition. The author proposes a notation based on semantic features which accounts for the syntactic behaviour of classes. The book also presents a case for considering this classification - again in rather traditional vein - to be basic to determining the syntactic structure of sentences. Syntactic structure is thus erected in a very restricted fashion, without recourse to movement or empty elements.

Preface
List of abbreviations
Part I. Prelude: 1. Notionalism
2. Analogism
3. Minimalism
Part II. Fundamentals of a Notional Theory: 4. Syntactic categories and notional features
5. Relations between elements
6. Further categories: the role of feature dependencies
7. Markedness and category continuity
8. Cross-classification
9. Gradience and second-order categories
10. Secondary categories
11. Non-complements
Part III. The Syntax of Categories: 12. Verbal valencies
13. The content of the functor category
14. The basic syntax of predications
15. The formation of ditransitives
16. Variation in argument structure
17. Verbals as arguments
18. The structure of primary arguments
References, Index.

Subject Areas: Grammar, syntax & morphology [CFK]