WHAT IS GENERATIVE GRAMMAR?


In this talk I will consider what generative grammar is, especially what
it is at its best. I will look at what is good and what is not so good
within generative grammar. I will also look at some common forms of
argumentation. Finally, I will highlight some important current issues.



SOME ISSUES IN POLISH SYNTAX


One of the most obvious ways in which Polish differs from English is in
its very free word order. Hence, it is natural to ask how the great
variety of word orders that are possible in Polish should be analyzed. Do
they involve just the same mechanisms as the more restricted displacement
and discontinuity phenomena that are found in English? Or are they in part
the result of other mechanisms? Within HPSG, order domains, as developed
by Kathol (1995) and Penn (1999) are an obvious alternative mechanism. It
seems natural to account for some Polish phenomena with order domains, but
as soon as one does this, one faces the question: which phenomena should
and which should not be accounted for in terms of order domains? I will
discuss this question (inconclusively) mainly with reference to
wh-questions.