Spell-Out and the Minimalist Program (Oxford Linguistics)

Since Juan Uriagereka originated the multiple spell-out model in 1999 it has been one of the most influential lines of research in syntactic theorizing. The model simplified a crucial element of the minimalist account of language making it a more accurate reflection of syntax and its acquisition. In this book he explores important consequences of the multiple spell-out hypothesis and of the linked notion of cyclicity. He combines the latest thinking in linguistics with perspectives drawn from physics, biology, and animal behavior, aiming thereby to advance the field first described by Noam Chomsky as biolinguistics. Without simplifying them Professor Uriagereka seeks to present the issues and their broader biological significance clearly and succinctly in ways that are accessible to scholars from adjacent fields with a limited background in linguistics. His analogies and comparisons between linguistic and non-linguistic phenomena (such as the syntax of birdsong) will be of value to both non-linguists and linguists, whose overriding concerns with narrow linguistic questions may sometimes obscure their broader biological significance. The subjects discussed in the book include the linearization of structure, the punctuated nature of a derivation (the multiple spell-out model), cyclicity and its consequences for locality, and the definition of c-command and its relevance to various types of grammatical dependency. The author discusses the evolutionary implications of his work, considering, for example, whether the punctuated nature of the derivation is a resolution of conflicting demands that yield an equilibrium found in nature more generally. This groundbreaking book will appeal to a wide range of readers in linguistics and cognitive science.

Reference

Uriagereka, Juan

Words, Language & Grammar

Oxford University Press

Since Juan Uriagereka originated the multiple spell-out model in 1999 it has been one of the most influential lines of research in syntactic theorizing. The model simplified a crucial element of the minimalist account of language making it a more accurate reflection of syntax and its acquisition. In this book he explores important consequences of the multiple spell-out hypothesis and of the linked notion of cyclicity. He combines the latest thinking in linguistics with perspectives drawn from physics, biology, and animal behavior, aiming thereby to advance the field first described by Noam Chomsky as biolinguistics. Without simplifying them Professor Uriagereka seeks to present the issues and their broader biological significance clearly and succinctly in ways that are accessible to scholars from adjacent fields with a limited background in linguistics. His analogies and comparisons between linguistic and non-linguistic phenomena (such as the syntax of birdsong) will be of value to both non-linguists and linguists, whose overriding concerns with narrow linguistic questions may sometimes obscure their broader biological significance. The subjects discussed in the book include the linearization of structure, the punctuated nature of a derivation (the multiple spell-out model), cyclicity and its consequences for locality, and the definition of c-command and its relevance to various types of grammatical dependency. The author discusses the evolutionary implications of his work, considering, for example, whether the punctuated nature of the derivation is a resolution of conflicting demands that yield an equilibrium found in nature more generally. This groundbreaking book will appeal to a wide range of readers in linguistics and cognitive science.

Winner in the category of Linguistics in the 1998 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc. foreword by Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini Winner of the Association of American Publishers' 1998 PSP Award for Best New Book in Literature and Language This unusual book takes the form of a dialogue between a linguist and another scientist. The dialogue takes place over six days, with each day devoted to a particular topic—and the ensuing digressions. The role of the linguist is to present the fundamentals of the minimalist program of contemporary generative grammar. Although the linguist serves essentially as a voice for Noam Chomsky's ideas, he is not intended to be a portrait of Chomsky himself. The other scientist functions as a kind of devil's advocate, making the arguments that linguists tend to face from those in the "harder" sciences. In addition to the device of the dialogue, the author employs a myriad of graphics—everything from classical paintings to contemporary cartoons. The author does far more than simply present the minimalist program. He conducts a running argument over the status of theoretical linguistics as a natural science. He raises the general issues of how we conceive words, phrases, and transformations, and what these processes tell us about the human mind. He also attempts to reconcile generative grammar with the punctuated equilibrium version of evolutionary theory. For according to the linguist, the linguistic system in our species emerged as a complex system, comparable to other complex phenomena in life that elude strict adaptationist explanations. In his foreword, Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini says, "The vast number of readers who have been enthralled by Gödel, Escher, Bach may well like also this syntactic companion, a sort of ‘Chomsky, Fibonacci, Bach.’"

Rhyme and Reason: An Introduction to Minimalist Syntax

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Mit Pr

Natural phenomena, including human language, are not just series of events but are organized quasi-periodically; sentences have structure, and that structure matters.\nHoward Lasnik and Juan Uriagereka “were there” when generative grammar was being developed into the Minimalist Program. In this presentation of the universal aspects of human language as a cognitive phenomenon, they rationally reconstruct syntactic structure. In the process, they touch upon structure dependency and its consequences for learnability, nuanced arguments (including global ones) for structure presupposed in standard linguistic analyses, and a formalism to capture long-range correlations. For practitioners, the authors assess whether “all we need is Merge,” while for outsiders, they summarize what needs to be covered when attempting to have structure “emerge.”\nReconstructing the essential history of what is at stake when arguing for sentence scaffolding, the authors cover a range of larger issues, from the traditional computational notion of structure (the strong generative capacity of a system) and how far down into words it reaches to whether its variants, as evident across the world’s languages, can arise from non-generative systems. While their perspective stems from Noam Chomsky’s work, it does so critically, separating rhetoric from results. They consider what they do to be empirical, with the formalism being only a tool to guide their research (of course, they want sharp tools that can be falsified and have predictive power). Reaching out to skeptics, they invite potential collaborations that could arise from mutual examination of one another’s work, as they attempt to establish a dialogue beyond generative grammar.

Structure: Concepts, Consequences, Interactions

Politics & Social Sciences

Lasnik, Howard

Philosophy

The MIT Press

A Course in GB Syntax is a new kind of linguistics textbook. It presents the fundamental concepts of the Government-Binding approach to syntax in a lecture-dialogue format that conveys the sense of a changing field, with live issues under debate. Students and professionals seeking a lucid introduction to the complexities of GB syntax will have the experience of participating in an actual course taught by a major practitioner. The presentation of fundamentals is followed by further examples, easily understandable discussion of technical questions, and alternative analyses within the same basic framework. The book fits well between a more general introduction like van Riemsdijk and Williams' Introduction to the Theory of Grammar and the major GB literature. While it has been designed for use by graduate students in a second semester syntax course, it can serve as a reader's companion to important but sometimes forbidding texts like Noam Chomsky's Lectures on Government and Binding and Some Concepts and Consequences of the Theory of Government and Binding.The informal tone makes the subject more approachable; examples are worked out more slowly and in greater detail than is possible in the primary sources; and the definitions and notational devices are carefully explained. Finally, many of the questions that the student might want to raise are raised (in fact, by students) and answers and alternatives are explored. The lectures give an overview of the modular GB model and cover in detail Case theory; Binding Theory; the determination of "empty categories," parasitic gaps, and the Empty Category Principle; extensions and alternatives, such as Aoun's "Generalized Binding Theory" and Higginbotham's "linking" analysis, and various open questions, such as the nature of the Case filter, tough movement, weak crossover, illicit NP-movement, and topicalization.

A Course in GB Syntax: Lectures on Binding and Empty Categories (Current Studies in Linguistics) (Current Studies in Linguistics Series)

MIT Press]

This unusual book takes the form of a dialogue between a linguist and another scientist.
This unusual book takes the form of a dialogue between a linguist and another scientist. The dialogue takes place over six days, with each day devoted to a particular topic―and the ensuing digressions. The role of the linguist is to present the fundamentals of the minimalist program of contemporary generative grammar. Although the linguist serves essentially as a voice for Noam Chomsky's ideas, he is not intended to be a portrait of Chomsky himself. The other scientist functions as a kind of devil's advocate, making the arguments that linguists tend to face from those in the "harder" sciences.
The author does far more than simply present the minimalist program. He conducts a running argument over the status of theoretical linguistics as a natural science. He raises the general issues of how we conceive words, phrases, and transformations, and what these processes tell us about the human mind. He also attempts to reconcile generative grammar with the punctuated equilibrium version of evolutionary theory.
In his foreword, Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini says, "The vast number of readers who have been enthralled by Goedel, Escher, Bach may well like also this syntactic companion, a sort of 'Chomsky, Fibonacci, Bach.'".

One of the major arenas for debate within generative grammar is the nature of paradigmatic relations among words. Intervening in key debates at the interface between syntax and semantics, this book examines the relation between structure and meaning, and analyzes how it affects the internal properties of words and corresponding syntactic manifestations. Adapting notions from the Evo-Devo project in biology (the idea of 'co-linearity' between structural units and behavioural manifestations) Juan Uriagereka addresses a major puzzle: how words can be both decomposable so as to be acquired by children, and atomic, so that they do not manifest themselves as modular to adults.

Syntactic Anchors: On Semantic Structuring (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 118)

Cambridge University Press

One of the major arenas for debate within generative grammar is the nature of paradigmatic relations among words. Intervening in key debates at the interface between syntax and semantics, this book examines the relation between structure and meaning, and analyzes how it affects the internal properties of words and corresponding syntactic manifestations. Adapting notions from the Evo-Devo project in biology (the idea of 'co-linearity' between structural units and behavioural manifestations) Juan Uriagereka addresses a major puzzle: how words can be both decomposable so as to be acquired by children, and atomic, so that they do not manifest themselves as modular to adults.

A Course in Minimalist Syntax: Foundations and Prospects

A Course in Minimalist Syntax is a straightforward and detailed introduction to essential topics in the minimalist program, designed for students and scholars alike.   maintains an informal tone for students yet also contains enough fresh material to appeal to specialists  provides a natural extension of the classroom approach to linguistics, showing readers a new way of approaching syntax by thinking in minimalist terms  written by two prominent syntax researchers, the authors of the classic A Course in GB Syntax, Howard Lasnik and Juan Uriagereka

Wiley/Blackwell

A Course in Minimalist Syntax is a straightforward and detailed introduction to essential topics in the minimalist program, designed for students and scholars alike. <ul>
<li>maintains an informal tone for students yet also contains enough fresh material to appeal to specialists 
</li> <li>provides a natural extension of the classroom approach to linguistics, showing readers a new way of approaching syntax by thinking in minimalist terms 
</li> <li>written by two prominent syntax researchers, the authors of the classic A Course in GB Syntax, Howard Lasnik and Juan Uriagereka</li> </ul>

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Uriagereka, Juan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Uriagereka, Juan

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Uriagereka, Juan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Spell-Out and the Minimalist Program (Oxford Linguistics)

Spell-Out and the Minimalist Program (Oxford Linguistics)

Rhyme and Reason: An Introduction to Minimalist Syntax

Structure: Concepts, Consequences, Interactions

A Course in GB Syntax: Lectures on Binding and Empty Categories (Current Studies in Linguistics) (Current Studies in Linguistics Series)

Rhyme and Reason: An Introduction to Minimalist Syntax

Syntactic Anchors: On Semantic Structuring (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 118)

Syntactic Anchors: On Semantic Structuring (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 118)

A Course in Minimalist Syntax: Foundations and Prospects

A Course in Minimalist Syntax: Foundations and Prospects