Summary:
Assuming no prior knowledge of linguistics, it discusses and illustrates all the major terms and concepts essential to the study of sentence structure in the world's languages. 'Noun' and 'verb' are explained, and the properties of these categories are discussed. The reader discovers what a finite verb is, what 'first person singular' means and what relative clauses look like. Concepts such as 'subject', 'object', 'gender', 'case', and 'subordination' are introduced and exemplified. Initial illustration is from English, with extensive additional material from several other languages. 'Exotic' constructions not found in related European languages are fully covered, so that verb serialization, ergative languages and head-marking languages are all included.

This new edition has been updated and revised to meet the needs of today's students. Difficult points are given fuller explanation, a glossary of technical terms is included, and additional exercises have been introduced to enable students to consolidate what they have learnt.

• New glossary of technical terms
• More examples from English
• Explanations of difficult points expanded, especially of wh- phenomena

Table of Contents:
1. What is syntax?
2. Words belong to different classes
3. Looking inside sentences
4. Head words and phrases
5. How do we identify constituents?
6. Relationships within the clause
7. Processes that change grammatical relations
8. Wh-constructions: questions and relative clauses
9. Conclusion

About the Author(s):
Maggie Tallerman is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Newcastle, UK.

Readership:
Undergraduate students