Syntactic Theory, 2nd Edition (Center for the Study of Language and Information - Lecture Notes)

Rating:
Summary: A necessary part of any study of syntax
Review: Syntactic Theory is a comprehensive introduction to syntax, and not only presents a comprehensive theory but teaches the reader to analyze English sentences and formulate and test original hypotheses. Sag et al develop a very powerful analytic framework, and take you step by step through its development. This incremental approach is my only criticism; while its important to lay a solid foundation, the authors present several simplified-yet-flawed theories in the beginning, and the transition to "real" theory sneaks up on the reader. I believe that the simplified theories are important to introduce syntax to the reader at a manageable pace, be ware that the first few chapters inform the later chapters, but many of the grammatical hypothesis will be disproved later in the book. It can cause a bit of confusion, but the careful reader should have no problem. Overall, a great learning tool and very useful excercises.