{"product_id":"syntax-edward-a-f-gibson-9780262553575","title":"Syntax: A Cognitive Approach","description":"\u003cb\u003eA simple grammar formalism--dependency grammar--motivated by the observation that longer distance connections between words are harder to make.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eSyntax\u003c\/i\u003e provides a cognitive basis for syntactic structures across languages. Edward Gibson observes that there is a cognitive cost associated with connecting words that increases with the dependency length, such that shorter connections are preferred. A transparent formalism to represent this observation is dependency grammar, in which a word is simply connected to another word via a dependency arc to form a larger compositional meaning. This formalism can explain numerous aspects of word order universals across languages. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis book contrasts dependency grammar with the industry standard going back to Chomsky's phrase structure grammar with transformations. Dependency grammar is a simpler formalism: It does not posit the existence of categories that combine words. Furthermore, there are no transformations. Gibson argues that a construction-based dependency grammar is not only simpler than a phrase structure with transformations approach, but it also accounts for language phenomena more effectively.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Edward A. F. Gibson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0262553570\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780262553575\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e MIT Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/16\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 366\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Edward A. F. Gibson","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47473779376383,"sku":"9780262553575","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_84d20e2b-a9e8-4b41-8233-5f753de0f902.jpg?v=1762312889","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/syntax-edward-a-f-gibson-9780262553575","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}