On current views on exceptions inlinguistics

The book Expecting the unexpected: Exceptions in grammar, edited by Horst J. Simon and Heike Wiese2 fits into a series of collections of papers published in the last 10 years about metatheoretical issues in linguistics.3 These volumes have touched upon different methodological problems related to the usability and treatment of linguistic data and evidence: their reliability, acceptability, functions, typology, structure, combinability, etc. A typical characteristic of the current literature on linguistic methodology is that most authors go beyond the standard view which has been dominant in linguistics since the 1950s in several respects but remain within its boundaries in relation to other relevant issues. This is the case with the problem of inconsis-