Showing posts with label Oxford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oxford. Show all posts

Friday, September 25, 2015

Verb Movement and Expletive Subjects in the Germanic Languages (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax) [Repost]




Verb Movement and Expletive Subjects in the Germanic Languages (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax) by Sten Vikner


English | Apr. 13, 1995 | ISBN: 0195083946 | 304 Pages | PDF | 16.01 MB




This book is the study of two different kinds of variation across the Germanic languages. One involves the position of the finite verb, and the other the possible positions of the "logical" subject in constructions with expletive (or "dummy") subjects. The book applies the theory of Principles-and-Parameters to the study of comparative syntax. Several languages are considered, including less frequently discussed ones like Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, and Yiddish.










Wednesday, September 23, 2015

The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy




Andrew F. Cooper, Jorge Heine, "The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy"


2013 | ISBN-10: 0199588864, 0198743661 | 336 pages | PDF | 7 MB




At a time when diplomatic practices and the demands imposed on diplomats are changing quite radically, and many foreign ministries feel they are being left behind, there is a need to understand the various forces that are affecting the profession. Diplomacy remains a salient activity in today"s world in which the basic authoritative actor is still the state. At the same time, in some respects the practice of diplomacy is undergoing significant, even radical, changes to the context, tools, actors and domain of the trade. These changes spring from the changing nature of the state, the changing nature of the world order, and the interplay between them. One way of describing this is to say that we are seeing increased interaction between two forms of diplomacy, "club diplomacy" and "network diplomacy". The former is based on a small number of players, a highly hierarchical structure, based largely on written communication and on low transparency; the latter is based on a much larger number of players (particularly of civil society), a flatter structure, a more significant oral component, and greater transparency.




The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy is an authoritative reference tool for those studying and practicing modern diplomacy. It provides an up-to-date compendium of the latest developments in the field. Written by practitioners and scholars, the Handbook describes the elements of constancy and continuity and the changes that are affecting diplomacy. The Handbook goes further and gives insight to where the profession is headed in the future. Co-edited by three distinguished academics and former practitioners, the Handbook provides comprehensive analysis and description of the state of diplomacy in the 21st Century and is an essential resource for diplomats, practitioners and academics.









Friday, September 18, 2015

The Syntax of Ellipsis: Evidence from Dutch Dialects (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax) [Repost]




The Syntax of Ellipsis: Evidence from Dutch Dialects (Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax) by Jeroen Van Craenenbroeck


English | Feb. 22, 2010 | ISBN: 0195375653 | 334 Pages | PDF | 2.12 MB




The Syntax of Ellipsis investigates a number of elliptical constructions found in Dutch dialects within the framework of the Minimalist Program. Using two case studies, Van Craenenbroeck argues that both the P.F.-deletion and the pro-theory of ellipsis are needed to account for the full range of elliptical phenomena attested in natural language. The first case study focuses on instances of stranding to the right of a sluiced wh-phrase: prepositions in English (What about? ) and demonstrative pronouns in southern Dutch dialects (Wie dat? "who that"). Van Craenenbroeck gives both of these phenomena a P.F.-deletion analysis, which turns out to have considerable repercussions for the structure of the left periphery and the syntax of wh-movement. Specifically, while minimal wh-phrases move from their I.P.-internal base position to spec C.P., complex ones are base-generated in the (split) left periphery. The second case study is concerned with Short Do Replies in southern Dutch dialects, a type of contradictory reply that at first sight bears a close resemblance to English V.P.-ellipsis. Van Craenenbroeck shows that in this case the ellipsis site is best represented as a null, structureless proform that is licensed by the head of a high Po.l.P. . Moreover, this pronominal is argued to occur in two other dialectal constructions as well: contradictory replies of the type Da"s nie "that is not" found in Brabant Dutch, and the occurrence of subject clitics and agreement endings on the words for yes and no in Southern Dutch dialects (e.g. Ja-n-s "yes-Plural-they"). The Syntax of Ellipsis will be of interest to scholars of the left periphery, wh-movement, and Dutch dialects.








Thursday, September 17, 2015

Statistical Mechanics of Phase Transitions (Oxford Science Publications) by J. M. Yeomans




Statistical Mechanics of Phase Transitions (Oxford Science Publications) by J. M. Yeomans


English | June 25, 1992 | ISBN: 0198517297, 0198517300 | 161 Pages | DJVU | 1 MB




Recent developments have led to a good understanding of universality: why phase transitions in systems as diverse as magnets, fluids, liquid crystals, and superconductors can be brought under the same theoretical umbrella and accurately described by simple models. This book describes the physics underlying universality and then lays out the theoretical approaches now available for studying phase transitions. Traditional techniques, mean-field theory, series expansions, and the transfer matrix, are described; the Monte Carlo method is covered; and two chapters are devoted to the renormalization group which led to a breakthrough in the field.