English Syntax, 2nd Edition [Hardcover]

C. L. Baker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262023857 | ISBN-13: 978-0262023856 | Publication Date: March 27, 1995 | Edition: 2

This is an introduction to the subject of English syntax for students who have had no prior coursework in syntactic theory. The detailed revisions throughout this second edition are aimed at increasing its clarity and usefulness. There are changes in almost every chapter, including a number of new exercises and several new subsections. In addition there are two new appendices, the first sketching the relation of English syntax to the wider field of generative syntactic theory, the second summarizing the basic syntactic structures discussed in the body of the text. Specific changes include a fuller discussion, at the beginning of chapter three of the difference between complements and modifiers; a more systematic introduction to tree diagrams and what they express, at the end of chapter three; a new subsection in chapter four on how to analyse complex structures; a new discussion of the general nature of missing-phrase constructions in chapter nine; a significant revision of the discussion of comparative clauses in chapter 12; a new discussion of the scope of negation in chapter 15; and, in chapter 16, a new discussion of practical strategies for analyzing conjoined structures.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

C. L. Baker was a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 2 edition (March 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262023857
• ISBN-13: 978-0262023856
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,730,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Textbook on Beginning Englsh Syntax, November 3, 2011

By 

Mssr. Nomdeplume (Monster Island, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: English Syntax - 2nd Edition (Paperback)

I got this because Mark Lester recommended it in his "Grammar and Usage in the Classroom." It was written to be an introductory classroom text on English syntax, which makes it great for someone like me without prior linguistics experience. And like Grammar and Usage, you'll learn lots of those usage tests to determine what a particular phrase is doing in a sentence, both sharpening your analytical skills and helping you to explain it to curious students. The chapter contents proceed with a deductive logic that is almost mathematical, analyzing every little phrase embedded in a larger phrase, and discovering new rules as you go along. This book has definitely stretched my head.