Generative grammarians work with a fluid paradigm but it flows around rocks and boulders; these are the solid arguments and analyses that the river must always content with. Lasnik revisits the source of the river—the work from 40 years ago. He shows how old ideas have come and gone and come back, how new ideas have enriched the old or missed them, how the water has flowed around the boulders, sometimes smoothly and sometimes churning into a froth.
David Lightfoot, Professor of Linguistics, University of Maryland
The second best thing to participating in Howard Lasnik's class is to read about it. In Syntactic Structures Revisited, he allows us to witness his dynamic presentation, in this case relating to Affix Hopping. He gives us the most current version of the theory. Chomsky's early analysis—his best ever—is brought back in all its magic, to the delight of the audience.
Juan Uriagereka, Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland
The single most influential piece of syntactic analysis within the generative tradition is Chomsky's analysis of the English auxilliary sytem. Lasnik, Depiante and Stepanaov revisit this wonderful piece of syntax and allow us to savor its historical significance again. More impressive still, they show that the problems Chomsky's classic analysis addressed are still very much alive and of great interest given the current Minimalist theory.
Norbert Hornstein, Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland
Anybody who wants to understand what the enterprise of generative grammar is about should not look further than this book, based on classroom lectures by Howard Lasnik. It is an extraordinary achievement by one of the leading scholars and most gifted and inspring teachers in the field.
Zeljko Boskovic, Department of Linguistics, University of Connecticut
For those who think the history of generative grammar is dead and buried, this book provides much needed shock therapy. With great clarity, insight, and close attention to empirical detail, Lasnik illuminated the central role of the issues, concepts, and analyses of Syntactic Structures in the development of syntactic theory from the beginnings of transformational grammar to the minimalist program. A brilliant commentary on its predecessor, Syntactic Structures Revisited should be required reading for anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of the structure of linguistic theory and the computational nature of human language.
Robert Freidin, Program in Linguistics, Princton University
