Syntax: Basic Concepts and Applications provides a systematic introduction to core topics in syntax, focusing on how the basic concepts apply in the analysis of sentences. Assuming no background in linguistic analysis, the book gives students a working knowledge of syntactic analysis from a minimalist perspective. Step by step it explains the fundamentals of phrase structure, movement and deletion. Well-placed exercises throughout reinforce and extend the concepts and analyses presented in the text, allowing readers to gain understanding of progressively complex issues at a comfortable pace. Much of the data comes from English, but crucial examples are also drawn from a range of other languages, including Russian, Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Irish, Welsh and Greek.

‘This is the book I would recommend to anyone who wants to be gently led to know what the new view of human language is all about - and how much one can get out of a tiny English word.’

Carlos P. Otero - University of California

‘An inspired approach by a leading syntactician to the presentation of fundamental syntactic concepts, focusing on fascinating facts (including the ambiguous sentence (!) ‘Fish fish fish fish’) and how to analyze them.’

Howard Lasnik - University of Maryland