Lectures on structure and derivation : a course in English syntax

The present Lectures on structure and derivations follow the insights of the recent models of Transformational Generative Grammar but the book differs from other manuals on English syntax in a few respects. First, unlike some purely descriptive accounts, it explicitly aims at a characterisation of the system of syntax as intuitively applied by native speakers of English. Thus, the focus of presentation is not on the detailed observation and taxonomy of the syntactic facts, but rather on their explanation in terms of the underlying system of rules and principles that constitute the knowledge of language in the mind of its user.