Structure of Language

Lasnik and Uriagereka's Structure: Concepts, Consequences, Interactions explores the nature of syntactic structure in human language. The authors, prominent figures in generative linguistics, present a detailed examination of syntactic phenomena, using formal language theory to model linguistic complexity. They argue for the importance of structure-dependent operations and challenging data-driven approaches to language acquisition. The book investigates various levels of syntactic complexity, from basic constituency to long-range dependencies, proposing new formal tools for analyzing these structures. Finally, the authors discuss language variation and acquisition, suggesting a three-stage model of language development and exploring the role of innate knowledge and maturation.