LINGUIST 401: Introduction to Syntax

Fall 2007
Dickinson 112, TTh 1.00-2.15

Rajesh Bhatt
bhatt@linguist.umass.edu
224 South College, 577-0797
Office Hours: TTh 11.00-12.00 or by appointment


Syllabus

Themes: What syntactic properties are shared by all natural languages? What syntactic properties distinguish them? What do we know when we know a language? What are syntactic properties? How do we construct a theory of syntax? This course aims to equip students with the ability to address these questions in a precise and informed way. The topics include those that are central to a proper understanding of syntax: phrase structure, movement, grammatical relations, case, complementation, anaphora, and long-distance movement. The Fall 2007 edition of this class satisfies the Junior Year Writing requirement.

Prerequisites

Linguist 201 (Introduction to Linguistics) or the consent of the instructor

Requirements

Readings and Required Text

I will occasionally distribute short, compulsory reading assignments through the website.
Required Text: Syntax: A Generative Introduction, 2nd edition, Andrew Carnie, Blackwell Publishing, 2007. (ISBN 0-4051-3384-8) (ordered at UMass Textbook Annex).

Lectures

Assignments

A weekly and standing assignment is that you have to submit a written question - approximately a paragraph long - each week. The question can concern any aspect of the material we have discussed in class. If your last name ends in A-L, your question is due in class on Tuesday, and if your last name ends in N-Z, on Thursday.

Some policies concerning assignments: hard copies of assignments must be submitted in class on the assigned date. Late assignments will in general not be accepted. You are welcome to collaborate on assignments but unless indicated otherwise, you should submit individual assignments indicating who you collaborated with.