For the whole of the last half-century, most theoretical
syntacticians have assumed that knowledge of language is different
from the tasks of speaking and understanding. There have been some
dissenters, but, by and large, this view still holds sway.
This book takes a different view: it continues the task set in
hand by Kempson et al (2001) of arguing that the common-sense
intuition is correct that knowledge of language consists in being
able to use it in speaking and understanding. The Dynamics of
Language argues that interpretation is built up across as sequence
of words relative to some context and that this is all that is
needed to explain the structural properties of language. The
dynamics of how interpretation is built up is the syntax of a
language system. The authors' first task is to convey to a general
linguistic audience with a minimum of formal apparatus, the
substance of that formal system. Secondly, as linguists, they set
themselves the task of applying the formal system to as broad an
array of linguistic puzzles as possible, the languages analysed
ranging from English to Japanese and Swahili.
"This book makes an uncommon achievement in successfully using
detailed analyses of typologically diverse languages to address
foundational questions about what it means to know a language and
about the relation between speaking and understanding. This book
will be of interest to anybody who is serious about the cognitive
science of syntax and semantics."
Colin Phillips, University of Maryland, USA
"For anyone interested in the basic nature of natural language
syntax, this book is a necessary, and enjoyable, read. The authors
provide a new take on howinterpretations are constructed by
language users, and back up their general theoretical proposals
with original analyses of an eclectic range of linguistic
phenomena. The exposition
is clear and engaging-and challenging. You will have some of your
assumptions shaken up; whether they fall back in place, or are
radically rearranged, the experience is stimulating."
Caroline Heycock, University of Edinburgh, UK
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