Topics in English Syntax [antikvár]

L. Varga iii TES To the Student Syntax is the study of the ways in which words are put together to form phrases and sentences (or clauses) , and so it is usually divided into Phrasal Syntax and Clausal Syntax. Phrasal Syntax concentrates on the classes of words and on phrase structure (i.e. on the ways in which words form phrases). Clausal Syntax examines sentence structure (clause structure) and the classes of clauses. This boolc deals with the most important topics of English phrasal and clausal syntax. It is a supplement to the main tier English syntax courses (AN-243 and AN-245) at ELTE, and deals with topics in both phrasal and clausal syntax, in two parts. Until recently, the primary aim of teaching English syntax (both phrasal and clausal) at the English departments of Hungarian universities was to provide the students with systematic and practical descriptions of English grammar, in order to help the students learn the English language better. By now this situation has changed. The descriptive aspect is still important because the syntax class is still the place where our students, who are not native speakers of English, can get most of the information they need about English grammar and usage in a systematic way. But the facilitation of language learning through providing systematic descriptions is no longer the. primary aim of the English syntax class. Our students' knowledge of English is far better now than it was a few years ago (due to better language schools, free travel, satellite TV, etc.), so a more important aim of teaching English syntax now is to familiarise the students with the basic concepts and representational techniques of modern (generative) linguistics. For modern linguistics, the question of how the native speaker's knowledge of language can be modelled and represented is far more important than mere description. The various answers to this question that have been provided by modern linguistics have made the study of language, including the study of syntax, so exciting and so relevant to an understanding of how language works that students at language departments must get acquainted with them. At our institute (Institute of English and American Studies, ELTE; formerly: Department of English Language and Literature, ELTE), courses specifically devoted to recent developments in modern linguistics are launched in the specialisation tier, i.e. in the third and fourth years. But preparing the way for such specialised studies is the central aim of the main tier syntax classes, and it is the central aim of the present book, too. In compiling this material, I have tried to combine the descriptive aspect with an attempt to show the ways in which modern linguistics can represent hierarchical syntactic