Synopses & Reviews
Morphosyntax of Verb Movement discusses the phenomenon of Dutch, present in many Germanic languages, that the finite verb is fronted in main clauses but not in embedded clauses. The theoretical framework adopted is the so-called Minimalist Program of Chomsky (1995), the latest developmental stage of generative grammar. Taking issue with previous analyses, the author argues that phrase structure in Dutch is uniformly head initial, and that the finite verb moves to different positions in subject initial main clauses and in inversion constructions.
The book contains lucid and detailed discussion of many theoretical issues in connection with the Minimalist Program, such as the relation between syntax and morphology, the nature of syntactic licensing, and the structure of the functional domain. At the same time, it offers a survey of the properties of Dutch syntax, a discussion of previous analyses of Dutch syntax and a wealth of material from dialects of Dutch and other Germanic languages.
Review
`Jan-Wouter Zwart's new study is an impressive contribution to Dutch and general linguistics, with many original ideas and surprising and provocative conclusions. His arguments and results merit careful thought, and are sure to be influential.' Noam Chomsky, MIT
Review
`Jan-Wouter Zwart's new study is an impressive contribution to Dutch and general linguistics, with many original ideas and surprising and provocative conclusions. His arguments and results merit careful thought, and are sure to be influential.'
Noam Chomsky, MIT
Synopsis
Morphosyntax of Verb Movement discusses the phenomenon of Dutch, present in many Germanic languages, that the finite verb is fronted in main clauses but not in embedded clauses. The theoretical framework adopted is the so-called Minimalist Program of Chomsky (1995), the latest developmental stage of generative grammar. Taking issue with previous analyses, the author argues that phrase structure in Dutch is uniformly head initial, and that the finite verb moves to different positions in subject initial main clauses and in inversion constructions. The book contains lucid and detailed discussion of many theoretical issues in connection with the Minimalist Program, such as the relation between syntax and morphology, the nature of syntactic licensing, and the structure of the functional domain. At the same time, it offers a survey of the properties of Dutch syntax, a discussion of previous analyses of Dutch syntax and a wealth of material from dialects of Dutch and other Germanic languages.
Synopsis
Syntax of Dutch presents a synthesis of formal linguistic research of the Dutch language from over forty years of scholarship. It is primarily concerned with language description, and provides support to all researchers interested in matters relating to the syntax of Dutch. These volumes provide a dense yet highly organized description of the internal structure of the noun phrase as well as its external distribution within the clause. These works are written with a directness and lucidity that makes it accessible to linguists of all kinds, including advanced students. This work, which will be published in seven volumes total in the period 2012–2016, is an essential addition to the library of any linguist working with Dutch.
About the Author
Hans Broekhuis works for the Department of Variation Linguistics at the Meertens Institute/Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Evelien Keizer is professor of English linguistics in Vienna.
Marcel den Dikken is professor of linguistics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York
. Table of Contents
Volume 1Abbreviations and symbols
Preface and acknowledgments
1. General introduction
2. Main objective
3. Intended readership
4. Object of description
5. Organization of the material
6. History of the project and future prospects
7. Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. Nouns: characterization and classification
Chapter 2. Projection of noun phrases I: complementation
Chapter 3. Projection of noun phrases II: modification
Volume 2
Chapter 4. Projection of noun phrases III: binominal constructions
Chapter 5. Determiners: articles and pronouns
Chapter 6. Numerals and quantifiers
Chapter 7. Pre-determiners
Chapter 8. Syntactic uses of noun phrases
Glossary
Subject index
References