Introducing Transformational Grammar : From Principles and Parameters to Minimalism

Rating:
Summary: nice intro to modern syntactic theory
Review: I got a linguistics BA in '78, and had mostly ignored the field since. Recently, I was trying to read Kayne's Parameters and Universals and realized there was too much I had forgotten, or never seen.

So I bought Ouhalla's book, and I have to say, I am very happy with it. It does an excellent job of presenting and explaining the endless jargon of linguistics. (Technical terms are in bold, and can actually be found in the index.) The presentation of phrase structure & transformations is clear and puts them in their historical/theoretical context. There follow 200 pages on principles & parameters, 100 on language variation, and the book ends with 60 pages on the Minimalist Program. Ouhalla does a good job at the end of each chapter of directing you to further reading. Ouhalla's writing style is effective and easy to read.

I recommend this book for what it is, an introduction to modern syntactic theory. Don't take it for an intro to linguistics as a whole. This book is quite approriate for those without linguistic training, but not for those without an interest in syntax.

Rating:
Summary: the way to success for beginning linguists
Review: Professor Jamal Ouhalla has truly made our way (beginning linguists) very eay to go through. We no longer have to struggle trying to understand what has been postulated by leading linguists. Professor Ouhalla summarises it all in a clear and understandable language. Additionally, the way things are presented is really amazing and inspiring; you really feel as if Professor Ouhalla is talking to you and leading you through this cool linguistic stuff.

Many Thanks Professor Jamal and I wish every success!

Mansour Seraj

Rating:
Summary: The most readble book in its field
Review: What captivates me most about this textbook is its comprehensibility and clarity. It proves to be the impressive compendium work within Principles-and-Parameters (P&P) model. Moreover, its problem sets enhance your linguistic awareness by inviting you to think about controversial issues in the field. However, the second edition contains some errors in typography, which we do not see in the first edition. Another weakpoint of this book is that in the second edition the summary at the end of each section in each chapter is removed. In actuality, only the general summary for each chapter can be found, unlike the first edition. This is why it is not granted 5-star rating. To sum up, this introduction to transformational grammar (TG) is a very nice mix of theory and practice and does not try to overwhelm the reader with too many jargons and complicated explanations.