This series is designed to provide a detailed account of one of the major problems in the teaching of a second language—the interference caused by structural differences between the native language of the learner and the foreign language he is studying. The similarities and differences between English and the language being taught are described in two volumes, one on the sound systems and one on the grammatical systems, for some of the foreign languages most in demand in the United States today.

In recent years, linguistics has become increasingly more willing to allow some type of representation of 'meaning' in the study of language. However, most approaches deal with sentence or utterance meaning and thereby ignore the meaning of linguistic form. Yet no description of linguistic semantics can be complete without a comprehensive account between meaning and form. This study returns to the problem of form and meaning by presenting a detailed account of certain forms in Spanish which have traditionally been called grammatical forms, or grammatical categories, and associated with grammatical meaning. It is suggested that not all linguistic forms represent the same kind of 'meaning', and that a subset of grammatical forms constitute a highly organized system that parallels phonology and syntax in its capacity to explain variation at the level of discourse. The book opens with an introductory chapter, which is followed by five chapters on the analysis of the Spanish verbal system. In Chapter 7 problems of the noun phrase (the meaning of determiners and grammatical number) are discussed. Chapter 8 offers an explanation of the meaning of the direct object a, and in Chapter 9 a crosslinguistic study of the semantics of Spanish and English is presented. A summary of findings is given in Chapter 10, along with a further consideration of the goals and procedures of semantic analysis.

A clear and well-organised introduction to Spanish syntax, assuming no prior knowledge of current theory.

No detailed description available for "Syntactic Structures".

(abridged and revised) This reference grammar offers intermediate and advanced students a reason ably comprehensive guide to the morphology and syntax of educated speech and plain prose in Spain and Latin America at the end of the twentieth century. Spanish is the main, usually the sole official language of twenty-one countries,} and it is set fair to overtake English by the year 2000 in numbers 2 of native speakers. This vast geographical and political diversity ensures that Spanish is a good deal less unified than French, German or even English, the latter more or less internationally standardized according to either American or British norms. Until the 1960s, the criteria of internationally correct Spanish were dictated by the Real Academia Espanola, but the prestige of this institution has now sunk so low that its most solemn decrees are hardly taken seriously - witness the fate of the spelling reforms listed in the Nuevas normas de prosodia y ortograjia, which were supposed to come into force in all Spanish-speaking countries in 1959 and, nearly forty years later, are still selectively ignored by publishers and literate persons everywhere. The fact is that in Spanish 'correctness' is nowadays decided, as it is in all living languages, by the consensus of native speakers; but consensus about linguistic usage is obviously difficult to achieve between more than twenty independent, widely scattered and sometimes mutually hostile countries. Peninsular Spanish is itself in flux.

For many years A NEW REFERENCE GRAMMAR OF MODERN SPANISH has been trusted by students and teachers as the standard English-language reference grammar of Spanish. Now updated to include the latest findings of the Royal Spanish Academy's official grammar book, 'La Nueva gramática de la lengua española', making A NEW REFERENCE GRAMMAR OF MODERN SPANISH FIFTH EDITION even more relevant to students and teachers of Spanish. Key features of this fifth edition include: a 'Guide to the Book', enabling you to make the most of this new edition new vocabulary such as topical and technological terms, bringing you up-to-date with contemporary spoken Spanish more Latin-American Spanish, ensuring world-wide coverage aclearer guidance to recommended usage -advice on the Academy's latest spelling rules. Whether a student or a teacher of Spanish, you can be sure that this fifth edition of A NEW REFERENCE GRAMMAR OF MODERN SPANISH will provide you with a comprehensive, cohesive and clear guide to the forms and structures of Spanish as it is written and spoken today in Spain and Latin America.