Introduction

This introductory chapter provides a synopsis of the literature on alternatives in grammar and cognition. After providing a short historical overview of the foundations for this research area, we sketch the outstanding theoretical questions. The contributions to this volume are briefly summarized and connected to foundational issues regarding (1) generation and restriction of alternatives and (2) operations on salient alternatives. Our volume sheds new light on long-standing debates regarding the nature of alternatives by synthesizing theoretical and empirical work.