This title, first published in 1985, is an investigation of certain aspects of the syntax of relative and comparative clauses. The author provides a typological survey of relative clauses in the languages of the world which serves both to convey a general impression of what relative clauses are like in the languages of the world, and to establish certain phenomena that are of theoretical import. The author also examines comparative clauses, and integrates the material given with that presented for relatives. This title will be of interest to students of language and linguistics.

1. Specifiers and projection -- 2. LF extraction of naze : some theoretical implications -- 3. Strong and weak barriers : remarks on the proper characterization of barriers -- 4. Parameters and optionality -- 5. A note on improper movement -- 6. The principles-and-parameters approach : a comparative syntax of English and Japanese -- 7. Symmetry in syntax : merge and demerge -- 8. Order in phrase structure and movement -- 9. An A-over-A perspective on locality -- 10. The uniqueness parameter -- 11. Nominal structure : an extension of the Symmetry Principle -- 12. Phrase structure -- 13. The Visibility Guideline for functional categories : verb-raising in Japanese and related issues.

Even though the range of phenomena syntactic theories intend to account for is basically the same, the large number of current approaches to syntax shows how differently these phenomena can be interpreted, described, and explained. The goal of the volume is to probe into the question of how exactly these frameworks differ and what if anything they have in common. Descriptions of a sample of current approaches to syntax are presented by their major practitioners (Part I) followed by their metatheoretical underpinnings (Part II). Given that the goal is to facilitate a systematic comparison among the approaches, a checklist of issues was given to the contributors to address. The main headings are Data, Goals, Descriptive Tools, and Criteria for Evaluation. The chapters are structured uniformly allowing an item-by-item survey across the frameworks. The introduction lays out the parameters along which syntactic frameworks must be the same and how they may differ and a final paper draws some conclusions about similarities and differences. The volume is of interest to descriptive linguists, theoreticians of grammar, philosophers of science, and studies of the cognitive science of science.

Its twenty-one commissioned chapters serve two functions: they provide a general and theoretical introduction to comparative syntax, its methodology, and its relation to other domains of linguistic inquiry; and they also provide a systematic selection of the best comparative work being done today on those language groups and families where substantial progress has been achieved." "This volume will be an essential resource for scholars and students in formal linguistics."--Jacket.

This volume brings together cutting-edge experimental research from leaders in the fields of linguistics and psycholinguistics to explore the nature of a phenomenon that has long been central to syntactic theory - 'island effects'. The chapters in this volume draw upon recent methodological advances in experimental methods in syntax, also known as 'experimental syntax', to investigate the underlying cognitive mechanisms that give rise to island effects. This volume presents a comprehensive empirical review of a contemporary debate in the field by including contributions from researchers representing a variety of points of view on the nature of island effects. This book is ideal for students and researchers interested in cutting-edge experimental techniques in linguistics, psycholinguistics and psychology.