[OVERVIEW] [REQUIREMENTS] [SCHEDULE] [READINGS]
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The objective of this course is to introduce students to recent syntactic theory and the empirical phenomena (drawn from a wide variety of languages) that it seeks to cover. Continuing the focus of LING 609, Syntax I, this course will stress the tools of syntactic argumentation and hypothesis testing, through examination of some of the primary literature of the past 20-30 years. The course will focus on the Principles and Parameters approach to syntax, which attempts to characterize the grammars of all natural languages in terms of a set of universal principles that all languages share, and a set of parameters along which languages may vary. We will emphasize the empirical motivation behind major theoretical proposals in the Principles and Parameters approach, and show how views on the nature of universal grammar and cross-linguistic variation have developed over the past 20-30 years as a consequence of a massive increase in cross-linguistic syntactic research. The course is also intended to provide graduate students in linguistics with preparation for the syntax qualifying exam.
In order to maximally benefit from this course, you should ensure that you are an active participant in class; active participation involves reading assigned articles or chapters before class and identifying questions or concerns that you have about them, attending class, and participating in class discussions. In addition to regular written assignments, all students are required to write two short papers which go beyond the material covered in class. The topics for these should be discussed with the instructor. The first paper will appropriately be a review of one or two papers; the second, which should be longer, will discuss and analyze some novel syntactic data.
There will be no exams for this course. The focus of the course is on reading, discussing, writing, and doing over the course of the semester, and hence your entire grade will be based upon this.
If you want to get the maximum benefit from this class (i.e., learn a lot and have a grade to show for it), you will do the following:
In class, don't hesitate to ask if there is something that you do not understand. Also, if you find the logic of an argument unconvincing, point this out to the class.
It is fine to work with other students on the written assignments; this is even encouraged, since it will most likely improve your understanding of the material. However, if you do this you should submit an assignment that you have written yourself, you should mention who you worked with, and-most importantly-you should make sure that you are satisfied that you have understood what you have written.
You are not helping yourself if you wait until the last possible moment to work on these squibs, and if you spend forever stressing out over what to write about. There are vast numbers of interesting papers to review and topics to explore (I will suggest some throughout the semester), and your success will depend more on the care you give to working on the project than on the brilliance of the choice of topic! You should come to speak to me in advance to let me know what you are working on, and you should also feel free to come to talk to me if you're not sure what to write about.
This schedule is tentative and is likely to change over the course of the semester. Readings should be done before the class for which they are assigned.
| FEBRUARY | |
| 6 Class 1: Intoduction (lecture notes) Projection, Theta Roles, Selection Reading: [ Jackendoff 1972] [ Chomsky 1981], especially pp.29-48 |
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| 11 Argument Structure and NP Movement (lecture notes) Reading: [ Perlmutter and Postal 1984] Assignment 1 due |
13 NP Movement and Case (lecture notes) Reading: [ Woolford 1993] [ Chomsky 1981], chapter 2 (esp. pp.48-52,55-60,66-71,101-127) |
| 18 NP Movement: Derived Subjects (lecture notes) Reading: [ Guilfoyle, Hung, and Travis 1992] (keep reading LGB) |
20 Case vs. Licensing (lecture notes) Reading: [ Marantz 1991] Assignment 2 due |
| 25 Verb Movement and Word Order Reading: [ Pollock 1989] (lecture notes) |
27 Verb Movement and Word Order Reading: [ Chomsky 1993] (postponed) |
| MARCH | |
| 4 Argument Structure Alternations Reading: [ Baker 1988] (lecture notes) Assignment 3 due (download source file) |
6 Argument Structure Alternations (lecture notes) Reading: [ Larson 1988] |
| 11 Argument Structure Alternations Reading: [ Hale and Keyser 1993] (lecture notes) |
13 Binding Reading: [ Chomsky 1981], ch.3 Assignment 4 due |
| 18 Binding Reading: [ Huang 1982] [ Chomsky 1986b] |
20 Binding Reading: [ Reinhart and Reuland 1993] (lecture notes) |
| 25 Binding [ Reinhart and Reuland 1993] continued |
27 Binding and Coreference Reading: Reinhart 1999 Grodzinsky and Reinhart 1993 (lecture notes) FIRST SQUIB DUE (Due Friday 5 PM) |
| Spring Break | |
| APRIL | |
| 8 pro-drop Reading: [ Kenstowicz 1989] [ Rizzi 1986] |
10 pro-drop Reading: [ Huang 1984] (lecture notes) |
| 15 PRO and Control Reading: review LGB Chomsky and Lasnik 1993 (selection) Martin 2001 (lecture notes) Assignment 5 due |
17 Wh-Movement Reading: [ Chomsky 1977] van Riemsdijk and Williams 1986, ch.2 (lecture notes) |
| 22 The ECP Reading: Lasnik and Saito 1984 |
24 Islands Reading: [ Kayne 1983] |
| 29
Islands Reading: [ Chomsky 1986a] |
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| MAY | |
| 1 LF wh-movement Reading: [ Pesetsky 1987] Assignment 6 due (Friday) |
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| 6 Relativized Minimality and Minimalism Reading: Rizzi 1990 |
8 Minimalism Reading: [ Chomsky 1993] |
| 13 Minimalism Reading: Chomsky 1998/2000 |
15 Nonconfigurationality Reading: Baker 1996, chapters 1--3 SECOND SQUIB DUE |
Readings consist of primary literature, listed in the schedule above (full references in bibliography below). A copy of each reading will be placed in the course mailbox in the linguistics department; you should photocopy the readings yourself and return them promptly.
There will be no textbook for this course, just the primary literature assigned. However, if you want to consult a textbook as background or further reading, you might try the following:
Additional resources: during the semester I will point out additional syntax resources, such as the Syncom project, notes compiled by various researchers, and others. There are also various computer programs for drawing trees, some of which attempt to be useful analytical tools as well (the Trees program, Syntactica). In writing the squibs, you should also become familiar with electronic databases for locating resources (if you are not already).
Baker, Mark C. (1996), The Polysynthesis Parameter. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chomsky, Noam (1998), Minimalist Inquiries: The Framework. No. 15 in MIT Occasional Papers in Linguistics. Cambridge, Mass.: MITWPL. Reprinted in Roger Martin, David Michaels, and Juan Uriagereka (eds., 2000), Step by Step, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 89--155.
Chomsky, Noam and Howard Lasnik (1993), ``The Theory of Principles and Parameters.'' In Joachim Jacobs, Arnim von Stechow, Wolfgang Sternefeld, and Theo Vannemann (eds.), Syntax: An International Handbook of Contemporary Research, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 506--569. Reprinted in Noam Chomsky (1995), The Minimalist Program, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 13--127.
Grodzinsky, Yosef and Tanya Reinhart (1993), ``The Innateness of Binding and Coreference.'' Linguistic Inquiry 24: 69-101.
Lasnik, Howard, and Mamoru Saito (1984), ``On the Nature of Proper Government.'' Linguistic Inquiry 15: 235-289.
Martin, Roger (2001), ``Null Case and the Distribution of PRO.'' Linguistic Inquiry 32: 141-166.
Reinhart, Tanya (1999), ``Anaphora.'' In Robert A. Wilson and Frank C. Keil (eds.), The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, pp. 20--22.
Rizzi, Luigi (1990), Relativized Minimality. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
van Riemsdijk, Henk and Edwin Williams (1986), Introduction to the Theory of Grammar. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.