Modularity in Syntax

Book excerpt: This book clarifies some of the central issues in Japanese syntax, pointing the wayto solving several long-standing problems. It presents an alternative to the Standard Theory, amodel which has dominated Japanese linguistics for a number of years.Following the study of thesyntactic and lexical levels of representation in Japanese, the book brings the same theoreticalperspective to bear on English. Although Japanese, a so-called nonconfigurational language, istypologically far removed from Indo-European languages, Farmer shows that Modular Grammar, which wasprimarily developed to account for an "exotic" language, yields insights into English as well, Inparticular, she examines the status of pronouns and anaphors. Aspects of Government Binding theoryare adapted for both Japanese and English, providing significant evidence that still-evolvingtheories have wide and possibly universal validity.Modularity in Syntax concludes by comparingJapanese and English, speculating on the extent to which the typological differences between themare a function of the nature of the rules and principles that mediate between the syntax and thelexical structure of the two languages.Ann Farmer is an Assistant Professor in the Department ofLinguistics, at the University of Arizona. This book is the ninth in the series, Current Studies inLinguistics, edited by Samuel Jay Keyser.