Understanding Language

Assuming no prior grammatical knowledge, Understanding Syntax explains and illustrates the major concepts, categories and terminology involved in the study of cross-linguistic syntax. Taking a largely theory-neutral and descriptive viewpoint throughout, this book:

• introduces syntactic typology, syntactic description and the major typological categories found in the languages of the world
• clarifies with examples grammatical constructions and relationships between words in a clause, including word classes and their syntactic properties; grammatical relations such as subject and object; case and agreement processes; passives and other valency-changing processes; questions and relative clauses
• features in-text and chapter-end exercises to extend the reader's knowledge of syntactic concepts and argumentation, drawing on data from over 100 languages
• highlights the principles involved in writing a brief syntactic sketch of language

This sixth edition has been revised to include updated further readings, improved examples and exercises and additional explanations of the most demanding concepts.

Understanding Syntax is an essential textbook for students studying the description of language, cross-linguistic syntax, language typology and linguistic fieldwork, and will be the foundation for all studies of theoretical syntax.