Eulàlia Bonet

I am sure I will agree with most of the contributions in this book, so I will add just a couple of comments. (a) One of the things I have learned from Noam, and his criticism of structural linguistics, is that classifying linguistic objects can never be the ultimate goal of research; classifications can be useful, but what really matters is the properties that lay behind them. (b) Noam is famous for being a tough contender, sometimes too rough. But I want to add that my impression from attending talks and classes by him is that this is the case only with people he thinks he can discuss with on equal terms, not with students or people from outside the field, for instance; he can also give the most interesting answer to the apparently silliest question.