Syntaxe théorique et formelle Volume 1: Modélisation, unités, structures

Conceived as a general introduction to syntax, this book presents the basic concepts necessary for a study of the combination of lexical and grammatical units within an utterance. The book does not impose a preconceived framework, but rather examines the various possibilities for the representation of syntactic structures, according to the general principles and specific criteria that have been adopted.

The aim of this book is to provide a basis for teaching syntax at university, and to show that it is possible to identify the properties of languages in a methodical way and to put order in the jungle of each language. The book is divided into three parts: How to develop the model of a language? How to determine the basic units of a language according to their meaning, form, and combinatorial nature? How to define and represent the different ways in which the units are organized? This last part presents an abundance of syntactic diagrams of a wide range of types.

The book is divided into small sections, alternating the main content with insights, historical notes, formal elaborations, linguistic examples in diverse languages, proposals for further reading, and exercises with answer keys.