It is within the scope of the book, however, to describe the fact that different speakers
of English will form different judgements regarding the acceptability of these
sentences under different circumstances.
In addition to descriptions, the book will also seek explanations. Why do
languages across the world have certain traits in common, such as the tendency for the
subject to precede the object? Why are certain features systematically linked to each
other, so that, for instance, languages where the verb precedes the object tend to have
prepositions, while languages where the verb follows the object tend to have
postpositions? In such cases, we shall try to consider alternative explanations without
theoretical prejudice.