![](/Images/spacer.gif) |
![](/Images/menu_shadow.gif)
![](/Images/menu_shadow.gif)
|
![](/Images/spacer.gif) |
Item Details
Title:
|
EVOLUTIONARY SYNTAX
|
By: |
Ljiljana Progovac |
Format: |
Hardback |
![](/Images/divider_itemdetail_1a.gif)
List price:
|
£110.00 |
We currently do not stock this item, please contact the publisher directly for
further information.
|
|
|
|
|
ISBN 10: |
0198736541 |
ISBN 13: |
9780198736547 |
Publisher: |
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS |
Pub. date: |
4 June, 2015 |
Series: |
Oxford Studies in the Evolution of Language 20 |
Pages: |
280 |
Description: |
Ljiljana Progovac proposes a gradualist, adaptationist approach to the evolution of syntax, subject to natural selection. The book provides a specific framework for studying the evolution of syntax, combining the fields of evolutionary biology, theoretical syntax, typology, neuroscience, and genetics. |
Synopsis: |
In this book, Ljiljana Progovac proposes a gradualist, adaptationist approach to the evolution of syntax, subject to natural selection. She provides a specific framework for its study, combining the fields of evolutionary biology, theoretical syntax, typology, neuroscience, and genetics. The author pursues an internal reconstruction of the stages of grammar based on the syntactic theory associated with Chomskyan Minimalism and arrives at specific, testable hypotheses, which are then corroborated by an abundance of theoretically analysed 'living fossils' drawn from a variety of languages. Her approach demonstrates that these fossil structures do not just coexist alongside more modern structures, but are in fact built into the very foundation of more complex structures, leading to quirks and complexities that are suggestive of a gradualist evolutionary scenario. By reconstructing a particular path along which syntax evolved, Evolutionary Syntax sheds light on the crucial properties of language design itself, as well as on the major parameters of crosslinguistic variation.As a result, this reconstruction can be meaningfully correlated with both the hominin timeline and the ever-growing body of genetic evidence that is available. |
Publication: |
UK |
Imprint: |
Oxford University Press |
Returns: |
Non-returnable |
|
|
|
![](/images/spacer.gif) |
![](images/menu_shadow2.gif)
![](/Images/menu_shadow2left.gif)
|
![](/Images/menu_shadow2left.gif)
|
![](/Images/menu_shadow2left.gif)
|
![](/Images/menu_shadow2left.gif)
|
![](/Images/menu_shadow2left.gif)
|
Little Worried Caterpillar (PB)
Little Green knows she''s about to make a big change - transformingfrom a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. Everyone is VERYexcited! But Little Green is VERY worried. What if being a butterflyisn''t as brilliant as everyone says?Join Little Green as she finds her own path ... with just a littlehelp from her friends.
![](/Images/menu_shadow2left.gif)
|
![](/Images/menu_shadow2left.gif)
|
All the Things We Carry PB
What can you carry?A pebble? A teddy? A bright red balloon? A painting you''ve made?A hope or a dream?This gorgeous, reassuring picture book celebrates all the preciousthings we can carry, from toys and treasures to love and hope. With comforting rhymes and fabulous illustrations, this is a warmhug of a picture book.
![](/Images/menu_shadow2left.gif)
|
![](/Images/menu_shadow2left.gif)
|
|
![](/Images/spacer.gif) |