Linguistics 620
Advanced Formal Syntax
>/b>Pre-requisites: Linguistics 520
Required Texts
Sag, I., & T. Wasow. 1999. Syntactic theory: a formal introduction. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.Course Description
This is a course on formal syntactic theory, focusing on theoretical motivations for and applications of unification-based approaches to syntax.
The approach will be problem-oriented. Writing will include explanations of formal analyses and possibly a term paper.
Grading
Assignments: 30%
Midterm: 20%
Final exam: 30%
Term paper: 20%
Weeks 1-2: Introduction; review of basic syntactic theory
Weeks 2-3: Phrase structure grammar, subcategorization, transitivity
Weeks 4-6: Feature analysis: feature structures, agreement, the Head Feature Principle
Weeks 7-8: Semantics in syntax
Weeks 9-10: Binding
Weeks 11-12: The lexicon
Weeks 13-15: Analysis of individual constructions