Spring 2010 -- LIN 381L -- Syntax II
Syllabus
Unique # 41220
| LIN 381L | SYNTAX II | MWF | 11:00am - 12:00pm | JES A207A |
Prof. Stephen Wechsler
wechsler@mail.utexas.edu
CAL 401; ph: 471-9026
office hrs: M 10-11, W 2-4
Course
Description. This
course will provide you with an understanding of some of the major syntactic
phenomena, and the formal tools to analyze those phenomena and express
theoretical claims. We will learn the
framework of
Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG), a
lexicalist
theory of syntax with no transformations. The framework is based on the
factoring of grammatical description into categorial structure (phrase
structure and morphology) and functional structure (subject, object,
etc.), based on the
observation
that grammars vary widely in the former but are similar in the latter.
Required Texts.
-
Joan Bresnan 2001. Lexical Functional
Syntax. Blackwell Press.
- Mary Dalrymple 2001. Lexical
Functional Grammar (Syntax & Semantics 34). Academic
Press.
Note:
The UT library has the
electronic version of Dalrymple
2001.
Prerequisites: Graduate
standing required. LIN 380L
and LIN 380M
or consent of instructor.
Requirements: (i)
Readings; (ii) class
attendance and participation; (iii) problem sets;
(iv) final exam.
Grading:
Problem sets 60%; final exam (Friday, May 14, 9:00Ð12:00 noon) 25%;
class participation 15%.
Book
feedback: I would
appreciate any specific comments, positive or negative, regarding the
Bresnan textbook. For example, let me know of anything in the
book that you don't understand even after several readings!
Policy on
academic honesty: You are encouraged to work together on the
problem sets. However, the homework you hand in must represent
your own thinking and your own understanding of the problem. On
your homework you must list
the names of the students you worked with. If you get help
from someone who already took this course or audited it in a previous
year then don't just copy their answers.
Tentative Schedule (updated 2/4/2010): check for updates
Weds 20
Introduction.
Fri 22
Theoretical and empirical motivations.
(i) Nonconfigurationality;
(ii) Movement paradoxes
Read:
¥ Bresnan Part I, Chs. 1 and 2 (pp. 3-24)
lecture slides 1
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Mon 25 - Weds 27
(iii) Lexicality and argument structure.
Read:
¥ Bresnan Ch. 3
DUE:
HW1. Questions on Bresnan Chs. 1 and 2.
lecture slides 2
--------------------------------------
Fri 29
The formal model
(i) c-structure/f-structure correspondence
Read:
¥ Bresnan Sec. 4.1-4.5
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 5: Sec. 2.1 ÔFunctional equationsÕ
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 5, Sec. 3 ÔThe c-structure/f-structure correspondenceÕ
lecture slides 3
--------------------------------------
Mon, Feb. 1The formal model (cont'd)
(ii) Constraining equations; Coherence, Completeness
Read:
¥ Bresnan Sec. 4.6-4.7
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 2, Sec. 3.6 'Well-formedness conditions on f-structures'
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 5, Sec. 2.2-2.8
DUE:
HW2. Exercise on English
lecture slides 4
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Weds 3
Grammatical functions
Read:
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 2 (skip Secs. 3.4-3.6)
¥ Bresnan Ch. 6, through 6.1 only
Introduction to grammatical functions
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 2: through Sec. 3.3 only.
(Optional: Dalrymple Ch. 5, Sec. 1.1 'Phrase structure rule expansions')
--------------------------------------
Fri 5
More of the formal model
(iii) Conditional constraints; thematic and non-thematic governed GFs; uniqueness of PRED values.
Terminal nodes (Bresnan p. 57ff). Prepositions as 'oblique case': (^(!CASE) = ! .
lecture slides 5
--------------------------------------
Mon 8
Lexical integrity
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 4, Sec. 4 'The lexical integrity principle'
lecture slides 6
--------------------------------------
Wed 10
Theory of structure-function mappings
(i) Constituent structure and endocentricity.
Read:
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 3 'Constituent structure'
¥ Bresnan Ch. 6, Sec. 6.2.1
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 4 'Syntactic correspondences', Secs. 1 & 2.
lecture slides 7
DUE:
HW3. Wambaya and Cheese Pizza
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Fri 12
(ii) Lexocentricity; head- and dependent-marking; typology.
Read:
¥ Bresnan, the rest of Ch. 6
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 5, Sec. 4 'Variation in grammatical function encoding'
--------------------------------------
Mon 15
Topic and FocusRead:
Kroeger Analyzing Syntax, Ch. 6
--------------------------------------
Weds 17
Topic and Focus (cont'd)
Functional Uncertainty
Read:
¥ Bresnan Ch. 4, Sec. 4.8 'Functional Uncertainty'
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 6: Sec. 1.1 'Functional Uncertainty' and 1.2 'Inside-out functional uncertainty' (pp. 139-146)
lecture slides 11: Inside-out functional uncertainty
DUE: HW4.
Chinantec Problem and
K'ichee' Problem
--------------------------------------
Fri 19
Sets of f-structuresRead:
¥ Bresnan Ch. 4, Sec. 4.9. 'Sets of f-structures'
¥
Dalrymple Ch. 6: Sec. 2.1 'Open Set Descriptions' and 2.2 'Distributive
and Nondistributive Features' (pp. 153-8)
DUE: HW5. Inside-Out Function Application Practice (short)
--------------------------------------
Mon 22
Head mobility
¥ Bresnan Ch. 7 'Endocentricity and heads', Secs. 1 & 2.
lecture slides 8
--------------------------------------
Weds 24
Distributed exponence
¥ Bresnan Ch. 7, Sec. 3.
--------------------------------------
Fri 26
Catch up day.
DUE:
HW6. LFG Adjective and Relative Clause Exercise
--------------------------------------
Mon, March 1
Pronoun incorporation and agreement
(i) Overview
Read:
¥ Wechsler (to appear) 'The Syntactic Role of Agreement'
--------------------------------------
Weds 3
Pronoun incorporation and agreement (cont'd)
(ii) Chichewa
Read:
¥ Bresnan ch. 8 through 8.1
¥ (Optional: Dalrymple ch. 5, Sec. 4 (pp 125-138); ch. 11, Sec. 1 (pp 275-8).
lecture slides 9
--------------------------------------
Fri 5Pronoun incorporation and agreement (cont'd)
(iii) Navajo and Plains Cree
Read:
¥ Bresnan, the rest of ch. 8
DUE:
HW7. When Verbs MoveÑ a Problem Set On Swedish Verb Position =================================================
Mon 8
Long-distance dependencies ('wh-movement')
(i) LDDs in LFG. Topicalization. Islands
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 14, through Sec. 1.1.3 (pp. 389-398)
lecture slides 12+
--------------------------------------
Weds 10
(ii) Topicalization in English vs. Russian: the role of case in signaling grammatical relations
Bresnan Ch. 9, through 9.2
lecture slides 11
--------------------------------------
Fri 12
(ii) Topicalization versus scrambling: why scrambling is clause-bounded while topicalization isn't.
Bresnan Ch. 9.3 through 9.4
DUE: HW8. Plains Cree exercise (Bresnan textbook, p.173)
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SPRING BREAK!
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Mon 22
Syntax of anaphoric binding (Part I)
Basic binding (nuclearity)
¥ Bresnan Ch. 10, Secs. 10.1-10.2
slides 1-10 of lecture slides 10
DUE:
HW9. Problem set on the Objective Conjugation in Hungarian
--------------------------------------
Weds 24
(vi) Topicalization, scrambling, and binding
¥ Bresnan Ch. 9, Sec. 9.5 'Detecting empty categories'
lecture slides 11.5
--------------------------------------
Fri 26
More on topicalization, scrambling, and binding
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 14, Sec. 3. (trace vs. traceless account)
=================================================
Mon 29
Syntax of anaphoric binding (Part II)
(i) Principle C
¥ Bresnan 10.3
--------------------------------------
Weds 31
(ii) subject-oriented pronouns
¥ Bresnan Ch. 11, Sec. 1-3 (pp. 236-242)
¥ Norwegian in-class exercise
DUE:
HW10. Syntax Data Collection: English Reciprocals
--------------------------------------
Fri, April 2
(ii) logophoric pronouns
¥ The rest of Bresnan Ch. 11.
=================================================
Mon 5
Syntax of control and raising
(i) Functional control (predication relations): XCOMP and XADJ
¥ Bresnan Ch. 12
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 12, Sec. 1
--------------------------------------
Weds 7
(ii) Anaphoric control
¥ Bresnan Ch. 13
¥ Dalrymple Ch. 12, Secs. 3; 5.1; 6; 7; 8.1
DUE:
HW11. Anaphoric Binding Problems: Finnish and Japanese
--------------------------------------
Fri 9
(iii) Control in Tagalog and other languages.
=================================================
Mon 12
Argument structure and mapping theory
¥ Bresnan Ch. 14
(Optional: Dalrymple Ch. 8)
--------------------------------------
Weds 14
Applicatives, Ditransitives
Class handouts.
--------------------------------------
Fri 16
Complex Predicates
¥ Butt, Miriam. 1994. Complex predicate scrambling in Urdu. Butt et al,
Theoretical Perspective on Word Order in South Asian Languages: 67Ð90.
DUE: HW12: P4.1.1 Dutch Dependent Clauses; and P4.2 Case and Grammatical Functions
=================================================
Word meaning and syntax
Mon 19 - Fri 23 : Nominalization
¥ Point: Marantz 1997 '"Remarks on
Nominalization" kills lexicalism to death", Sec. 3 of '
No Escape from
Syntax: Don't Try Morphological Analysis in the Privacy of your own
Lexicon'.
¥ Counterpoint: Wechsler 2008 '
Dualist Syntax', Sections 1 and 2.
Fri 23. DUE: HW13: Lexical Mapping Theory: Chichewa causative, applicative, and passive
=================================================
Mon 26 - Fri 30 : Idioms
Reading for Monday:
¥ Point: Richards 2001 'An Idiomatic Argument for
Lexical Decomposition.' Linguistic Inquiry, 32.1, p. 183ff.
(Available online through PCL.)
¥ Counterpoint: Wechsler 2008 'Dualist Syntax', Section 3.
Reading for Wednesday:
¥ Nunberg, Geoffrey, Ivan A Sag, and Thomas Wasow.
1994. Idioms. Language 70.3: 491-538. (Available online through
PCL.)
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Mon, May 3 - Fri, May 7 : Conclusion
Course Evaluations
Wrap-up
=================================================
Fri, May 14
DUE: HW14: Homework on Word Meaning and Syntax (TBA)
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