Last Update: October 30, 2009

 

ENG 569: TOPICS IN ENGLISH SYNTAX
Linguistics Section, Department of English Studies, University of Cyprus
Fall Semester 2009: Tuesdays & Fridays, 13.30 - 15.00 *** Room A 108

http://www.punksinscience.org/kleanthes/courses/UCY09F/TES/index.htm
Kleanthes Grohmann *** Email: kleanthi AT ucy DOT ac DOT cy
Room M 104, Phone: x2106 *** Office Hours: TUE 15.00–17.00 & WED 13.00–15.00 + by appointment

 

 

DESCRIPTION

In this course, we will look at a number of particular grammatical phenomena, primarily (but not exclusively) from English, under theoretical considerations — and consider specific theoretical ideas by illustrating them with empirical evidence. This symbiotic modus operandi will orient itself to the second half of a textbook used previously by most of you: Understanding Minimalism. After a recap of the most salient aspects of any minimalist approach to natural language syntax, we will cover issues such as minimality and locality, phrase structure and linearization, binding theory, and then examine formal features and their role in syntactic computations, all the way up to the packaging of derivations themselves, namely, the most current version(s) of Phase Theory and alternatives.

 

ASSESSMENT

Regular attendance is strongly advised! Besides class lectures, there will be:

1.  20%: two short quizzes (unannounced, in-class)
1.  30%: small set of exercises (October 23, by email)
3.  50%: large set of exercises (December 21, by email)
4.  ±x%: presence and preferably participation in class throughout

The exercises come from the book and will be assigned to individual students or, if desired, pairs. The “small set” are just a few, the “large set” will include revised solutions to the small set plus additional, and possibly more challenging, exercises because they come from later chapters in HNG.

I will prepare a list of all exercises in HNG with my assessment of difficulty levels (easy, interesting, and challenging), and every student/pair will get their own set to tackle throughout the semester — ideally in a balanced way, but also giving students the option to choose to some degree.

 

READING

There’s the textbook that every student should have a copy of because we’ll be using it extensively. Plus, all the exercises are in it as well. If you don’t have a copy, Moufflon Bookshop should still do.

Norbert Hornstein, Jairo Nunes & Kleanthes K. Grohmann. 2006. Understanding Minimalism.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [from now on HNG, or informally: “the red book” :-)]

Here's a list with all books on short-term loan from the library for this course.

As time goes by, I'll make available some additional readings and list them here:

HNG [no additional information for semi-security reasons]
excerpt [Chomsky 1995, The Minimalist Program, pp. 276-288]

You may also find it interesting to browse through this encyclopedia in the library (or any number of other linguistics encyclopediae):

Keith Brown and Anne Anderson (eds.).  2006.  Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics.  Amsterdam: Elsevier.  [second edition, P29.E5 2006 - v.1-14]

Consider also my repeated note on plagiarism:

Plagiarism is a serious offence! (See the factsheet handed out in the first class for a summary of what plagiarism is, and why it is so bad.) If I detect cheating or plagiarism in any way, I will report you to the Board of the Department of English Studies — as a consequence, you automatically fail this course and face more severe punishment which can even lead to expulsion from university. So, be honest and work honest. [DOWNLOAD HERE]

 

Here you can also download the current syllabus [updated: OCT 30]: SCHEDULE | Features | Minimality | BPS & Linearization [Winnie Lechner's handout on Precedence/Dominance] | Binding