Elkins William R. A New English Primer: An Introduction to Linguistic Concepts and Systems

Macmillan, 1974. — vi, 122 p. — ISBN: 978-1-349-15534-7.First of all, what the book is not: it is not an attempt to extend the frontiers of linguistic inquiry or even, for that matter, to report much of what is happening on those frontiers, although that is both important and fascinating. Rather, the book-as its title implies-is an attempt to present the concepts that are useful to a basic understanding and appreciation of contemporary linguistic systems. It differs from other textbooks in that it introduces only the most important concepts, leaving to the student (or the instructor) the decision to pursue any or all of them further. It relates these concepts to both structural and generative-transformational grammars, providing a background that should help students to adapt to the variations in terminology and method that they will encounter in their later reading. The book also draws explicit parallels between structural and generative transformational grammars and, where appropriate, discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the different modes of inquiry.Each chapter concludes with a brief list of readings, meant as a guide to more extended explanations than a primer such as this one permits. In addition, a selected bibliography can be found in Appendix C. At intervals in the text there are exercises for the student to try if he wishes, and in Appendix A there are suggested applications of the book's concepts.Neither the exercises nor the applications are intended to be prescriptive: ideally the study of language should be a creative activity, one in which students choose their own areas of concentration.Language and English Linguistics
A Definition of Language Grammar
Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Utterance
Immediate and Transferred Utterance
Summary
Structural Concepts
Immediate Constituents
Form Classes
Form Class I
Form Class II
Form Class III
Form Class IV
Function Words
Noun Determiner (Dn)
Preposition (Dp)
Conjunction (De)
Structural Analysis
Immediate-Constituent Analysis
Structural Marking Symbols
Summary
Generative-Transformational Grammar
GT Grammar I
The Passive Transformation (T-pass)
The Negative Transformation (T-neg)
The Do Transformation (T-do)
The Question Transformations (T-q, Tq-wh)
The Adverbial Transformation (T-adv)
The Deletion Transformation (T-del)
The Reflexive Transformation (T-reflex)
The There Transformation (T-there)
Intonational Transformations
(T-emphasis, T-reassertion)
GT Grammar II
Summary and Implications
[b]The English Sentence
Double-Base Transformations
The Relative Transformation (T-rel) and the Adjective+ Noun Transformation (T-adj + N)
The Noun Clause Transformation (T-N-cl)
The Adverb Clause Transformation (T-adv-cl)
The Coordinating or Conjunctive Transformation (T-conj)
Accumulation
Simple Accumulation
Simple Infixation
Ultimate Infixation
Reduction
ConclusionSuggested Applications
Answers to Exercises
Selected Bibliography