Reviewed by Joanna Nykiel, University of Silesia
In the introduction to this volume, the editors discuss the use of the terms fragment and nonsentential. Ultimately, they note that the choice of term is determined by which framework is adopted. Because the goal of this volume is to set the stage for an independent analysis of nonsententials, it contains chapters written from the perspective of several related disciplines. Six of the twelve chapters revolve around the notion of a formal framework of nonsententials. Among these, only one—by Jason Merchant (‘“Small structures”: A sententialist perspective’)—provides an explanation for the syntax of nonsententials along derivational (or sentential) lines. Merchant’s account integrates sentence fragments into their full underlying versions.
In ‘Toward a nonsentential analysis in generative grammar’, Ellen Barton examines the strengths and weaknesses of sentential and nonsentential proposals as well as a proposal that is mixture of the two. Her chapter is an excellent theoretical background for those that follow. Ljiljana Progovac’s nonsentential proposal (‘The syntax of nonsententials: Small clauses and phrases at the root’) systematically relates the special features of nonsententials (i.e. lack of tense node, bare nouns, default case, frequent nonassertive readings) to their direct generation, couched within the minimalist framework.
In ‘Neither fragments nor ellipsis’, Robert J. Stainton presents a critical assessment of Merchant’s theory. He claims that Merchant provides an overly complicated architecture to handle fragments. However, Stainton does not offer any answers; he merely indicates that a sentential approach, which does not account for all of the data, leaves a great deal unexplained. Eugenia Casielles—somewhat unnecessarily—reiterates Barton’s overview of sentential and nonsentential analyses in ‘Big questions, small answers’. She suggests a mixed account, with greater emphasis on the nonsentential dimension. In ‘Extending the nonsentential analysis: The case of special registers’, Kate Paesani contributes evidence from special registers that easily embeds within Progovac’s program.
In ‘The narrowing acquisition path: From expressive small clauses to declaratives’, Christopher Potts and Thomas Roeper sketch the development from a small-clause grammar to an adult grammar in first language acquisition, in which some small clauses (i.e. those expressive in content) are kept, whereas others are gradually lost as more sophisticated structures are acquired. Nicola Work addresses second language acquisition effects that support an initial nonsentential grammar in ‘Nonsententials in second language acquisition’. These effects demonstrate features identified by Progovac.
The next two chapters offer insight into agrammatic speech. Herman Kolk discusses aphasic patients’ preference for nonsententials as a result of reduced competence in ‘How language adapts to the brain: An analysis of agrammatic aphasia’, and in ‘Nonsententials and agrammatism’, Patricia Siple examines how patients alternate between sentential and nonsentential grammars, while consistently preserving each grammars’ respective principles.
The last two chapters add pidgin (Donald Winford, ‘Reduced syntax in (prototypical) pidgins’) and creole (Walter F. Edwards, ‘Copula variation in Guyanese Creole and AAVE: Implications for nonsentential grammar’) data that strengthen Progovac’s proposal. The volume concludes with an epilogue, which weighs the merits of nonsentential and sentential approaches in addition to identifying new directions for research.
These contributions will either persuade linguists to await more development in the analyses of nonsententials or to take up an interest in them. However, the text deserves one overall criticism: by underrepresenting sentential and mixed analyses, it suffers from an imbalance of interests. Although this volume successfully defends a nonsentential analysis, certainly, there must be more to nonsententials than just independent syntax.