Syntactic theory

Syntactic Theory provides an ideal vehicle for teaching students logical and critical reasoning and how to conduct scientific inquiry generally. Students have the opportunity to learn the importance of formal statements and definitions, hypothesis-testing and falsification and the need for independent motivation, whilst demonstrating and testing the developing theory virtually instantaneously. The textbook develops and motivates Chomsky's Government and Binding Theory framework. The initial chapters guide the student through introductory topics such as X'-Theory, Transformations, and elementary Binding Theory. For students needing a bridge to the primary literature, later chapters cover more advanced topics, which form the core empirical background to contemporary research, including the Empty Category Principle and the "Split" Infl hypothesis. The engaging, informal style makes the most difficult topics clear and accessible, and the liberal use of in-text exercises engage students at every stage of the theory-development process. An "Open Issue" at the end of every chapter encourages students to see themselves as active participants in a research community.