The Division of Labor between Grammar and the Lexicon

The architecture of the human language faculty has been one of the main foci of the linguistic research of the last half century. This branch of linguistics, broadly known as Generative Grammar, is concerned with the formulation of explanatory formal accounts of linguistic phenomena with the ulterior goal of gaining insight into the properties of the 'language organ'. The series comprises high quality monographs and collected volumes that address such issues. The topics in this series range from phonology to semantics, from syntax to information structure, from mathematical linguistics to studies of the lexicon.

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Much recent influential work within Generative grammar argues that syntax plays a key role in grammar and meaning composition, whereas the role of the lexicon is minimal. This book provides evidence that supports a more balanced division of labor between syntax and the lexicon in the creation of meaning. The author argues that grammatical theory can only ignore lexical meaning at its own peril and defends a theoretical standpoint which is underrepresented in much of the current work in this area . This book explores a wide range of relevant empirical data and makes a compelling case for a theory that can make adequate predictions about possible linguistic structures by allowing the lexicon and the grammar to dynamically interact and impose restrictions on each other.