Grammatical Theory: Its Limits and Its Possibilities [Paperback]

Newmeyer persuasively defends the controversial theory of transformational generative grammar.Grammatical Theoryis for every linguist, philosopher, or psychologist who is skeptical of generative grammar and wants to learn more about it.

Newmeyer's formidable scholarship raises the level of debate on transformational generative grammar. He stresses the central importance of an autonomous formal grammar, discusses the limitations of discourse-based approaches to syntax, cites support for generativist theory in recent research, and clarifies misunderstood concepts associated with generative grammar.

Frederick J. Newmeyeris professor of linguistics at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Preface
1. The Generativist Approach to Linguistic Analysis
1.1. Introduction
1.2. On the Autonomy of Grammar and the Modular Conception of Language
1.3. Some Evidence for the Autonomy of Formal Grammar
1.3.1. Grammatical Evidence
1.3.2. Evidence from Language Acquisition
1.3.3. Neurological Evidence
1.4. Some Modular Accounts of Linguistic Phenomena
1.4.1. Multiply Center-Embedded Constructions
1.4.2. Tag Questions
1.4.3. Indirect Speech Acts
1.4.4. The Interpretation of Anaphoric Elements
1.5. Some Troublesome Concepts
1.5.1. Competence and Performance
1.5.2. Linguistic Universals
1.5.3. Simplicity and Evaluation
1.5.4. Psychological Reality

2. The Data Base of Grammatical Theory
2.1. The Value of Introspective Data
2.2. Conflicting Analyses, Not Conflicting Judgments
2.2.1. Grammaticality and Acceptability
2.2.2. Unclear Cases: Letting the Grammar Decide
2.2.3. The Problem of Context
2.2.4. Some Alleged Data Disagreements
2.3. Introspective and Nonintrospective Data
2.3.1. On Investigating Acceptability Experimentally
2.3.2. The Studies Disconfirming Introspective Data
2.3.3. The Validity Problem
2.4. Is Grammatical Theory English-Oriented?