一由 David M.Perlmutter 编的《关系语法研究》(Studies in Relational Grammar)第一卷和他与Caral G.Rosen 合编的第二卷已经问世了。这两本书的出版是期待已久的了,为局外人了解关系语法提供了方便。然而此书的出版并非及时,假定此书能早五年同世人见面,估计会引起更广泛的兴趣。在目前的情况下,此书也许会很少有人问津,虽然这种待遇并非公正。其原因之一是自从Chomsky的管辖和约束理论发表以来,该理论一直在句法理论研究中唱着主角,没有一种理论的地位能与之相比,它吸引了年青一代句法学者中的佼佼者。原因之二是书中有不少文章已陈旧过时了。二十篇中至少有六篇出版于1976—1981年,另外还有三篇文章在脚注中写明事实上分别完成于1972,1977和1979年。 A first volume of Studies in Relational Grammar by David M. Perlmutter and a second volume he co-edited with Caral G. Rosen have appeared. The publication of these two books is long awaited, providing convenience for outsiders to understand the grammar of relationships. However, this book was not published in a timely manner. Assuming the book meets the world as early as five years earlier, it is estimated that this book will generate more interest. In the current circumstances, this book may be very rare, although this treatment is not fair. One of the reasons is that since the publication of the Chomsky’s theory of jurisdiction and restraint, which has been singing the leading role in the study of syntactic theory, none of its theoretical status can be compared with that of attracting the leader of the younger generation of syntactic scholars . The second reason is that many articles in the book are out of date. At least six out of twenty articles were published in 1976-1981 and three more in footnotes state that they were actually completed in 1972, 1977 and 1979, respectively.