Publisher's Synopsis
This Introduction provides a lively and clearly written textbook. It introduces basic concepts of grammar in a format which inspires the reader to use linguistic arguments. The style of the book is engaging and examples from poetry, jokes, and puns illustrate grammatical concepts.The focus is on syntactic analysis and evidence. However, special topic sections contribute sociolinguistic and historical reasons behind prescriptive rules such as the bans on split infinitives, dangling participles, and preposition stranding.The book is structured for a semester-long course. It provides exercises, keys to those exercises, and sample exams. It also includes a comprehensive glossary and suggestions for further reading.
