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A brilliant book by a one of the most creative minds in the field sets an example of how theory should be combined with data, vividly illustrating why syntactic research can be so exciting. Elena Anagnostopoulou, Professor of Linguistics, University of Crete In this learned, imaginative, and closely argued study, Richards proposes several simple and plausible theses about the relation between the core and possibly universal internal structure of language and the many ways in which it is manifested in speech. He embeds these in an architectural framework that has considerable independent confirmation, and, using a remarkable wealth of empirical materials from a wide typological range, shows how solutions emerge for subtle and surprising linguistic phenomena along with deep explanations for properties of language that had seemed to require stipulation. His results support important modifications of the framework and open intriguing questions that should inspire much new research. It is a stimulating and provocative illustration of linguistic inquiry at its most satisfying. Noam Chomsky

In this learned, imaginative, and closely argued study, Richards proposes several simple and plausible theses about the relation between the core and possibly universal internal structure of language and the many ways in which it is manifested in speech. He embeds these in an architectural framework that has considerable independent confirmation, and, using a remarkable wealth of empirical materials from a wide typological range, shows how solutions emerge for subtle and surprising linguistic phenomena along with deep explanations for properties of language that had seemed to require stipulation. His results support important modifications of the framework and open intriguing questions that should inspire much new research. It is a stimulating and provocative illustration of linguistic inquiry at its most satisfying. --Noam Chomsky A brilliant book by a one of the most creative minds in the field sets an example of how theory should be combined with data, vividly illustrating why syntactic research can be so exciting. --Elena Anagnostopoulou, Professor of Linguistics, University of Crete

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Norvin Richards is Professor of Linguistics at MIT and the author of Uttering Trees (MIT Press).

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