In this long-awaited book2;the first in a three-volume work2;David M. Perlmutter has co-authored and edited ten essays that introduce relational grammar, a novel conception of sentence structure that offers far-reaching conclusions for universal grammar.
The basic ideas of relational grammar can be simply stated. First, grammatical relations such as 'subject of, ' 'direct object of, ' and 'indirect object of, ' are needed to characterize the class of grammatical constructions in the clausal syntax of natural languages, to formulate universals of grammar, and to construct adequate and insightful grammars of individual languages. Second, the range of linguistic variation in word order and case patterns makes it impossible to define grammatical relations in terms of phrase structure configurations or case. Rather, grammatical relations must be taken as primitive notions of linguistic theory.
The papers collected here take up the first of these ideas. They lay out the basic theoretical constructs of relational grammar and discuss three areas of grammar2;advancement construction, raising, and clause union. In his introduction, Perlmutter discusses each of the papers2;most of which are published here for the first time2;and places them in the context of the whole of linguistic study.

Syntactic Argumentation and the Structure of English (SASE) presents the major theoretical developments in generative syntax and the empirical arguments motivating them. Beautifully and lucidly written, it is an invaluable resource for working linguists as well as a pedagogical tool of unequaled depth and breadth. The chief focus of the book is syntactic argumentation. Beginning with the fundamentals of generative syntax, it proceeds by a series of gradually unfolding arguments to analyses of some of the most sophisticated proposals. It includes a wide variety of problems that guide the reader in constructing arguments deciding between alternative analyses of syntactic constructions and alternative theoretical formulations. Someone who has worked through the problems and arguments in this book will be able to apply the skills in argumentation it develops to novel issues in syntax. While teaching syntactic argumentation, SASE covers the major empirical results of generative syntax. Its contents include: Transformations in single-clause sentences; Complementation and multi-clause transformations; Universal principles governing rule interaction: the cycle and strict cyclicity; Movement rules; Ross' constraints; Pronominal reference and anaphora. SASE is an important book for several different audiences: for students, it is an introduction to syntax that teaches argumentation as well as a wide range of empirical results in the field; for linguists, it is a sourcebook of classical analyses and arguments, with some new arguments bearing on classical issues; and, for scholars, teachers, and students in related fields, it is a comprehensive guide to the major empirical and theoretical developments in generative syntax. SASE contains enough material for a two-semester or three-quarler sequence in syntax. Because it assumes no previous background, it can be used as the main text in an introduction to syntax. Since it covers a wide range of material not available in other texts, it is also suitable for intermediate and advanced syntax courses and as a supplementary source in more specialized courses and courses in other disciplines. A storehouse of classical and original arguments, SASE will prove to be of lasting value to the teacher, the student, and researchers in both linguistics and related fields.