Course Outline L322

Course Outline

Department of Linguistics

Linguistics 322-3

Syntax

Course Chair: Dr. Richard C. DeArmond
Office: CC 9208
Phone 291-3478
Fax 291-5659
e-mail : dearmond@sfu.ca
Language Lab: AQ 3020, 291-4698
My Home Page: http://www.sfu.ca/~dearmond
Linguistics Home Page
Language Lab Home Page

FInal exam: ?? day, August ??, 2004, ??.
.
Note: All students must take the exams at the required and posted times.

Prerequisites: L222

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Course Description:

Note: those files marked with "(pdf)" are written in pdf-format, and will open only with Acrobat Reader.

Linguistics 322 covers the logical structure and the organization of syntax:

Part I: Phrase Structure Rules

parts of speech
phrase structures
basic verb classes
auxiliary verbs
tests for NP
theta roles
tests for VP, PP, AP
pro-forms
ambiguity
the three basic structures
complements
complementizers
subcategorization
adjunction
projection of X
C-command
modifier vs complement
x-bar.theory
conjunction
Legal Syntactic Structure
subjects
direct object
oblique object
determiners
definiteness and possession
function
recursion
propositional content

Part II: Carnie's Syntax

Generative Grammar

Structural Relations

Part III: Advanced Concepts on Syntax

Texts

Required Text: Syntax: A Generative Introduction

Recommended Reading:

Transformational Grammar: A First Course, by Andrew Radford. (1988). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 34750 5

Transformational Grammar, by Jamal Ouhalla. London: Edward Arnold. ISBN=0340556307. Library Catalog: PE 1106 093 1994

Introduction to Government and Binding Theory,' by Lilianne Haegeman. Oxford and Cambridge, MA: Blackwell's. (1991). ISBN=0631165630. Library Catalog: P 158.2 H34.

Syntactic Argumentation and the Structure of English,' by Scott Soames and David Perlmutter. (1979). Berkeley: University of California Press. 1979. Library Catalogue: P 291 P4

A concise introduction to syntactic theory: the government-binding approach, by Elizabeth A. Cowper. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1992. ISBN= 0226116468. Library Catalogue: P 158.2 C6 1992.

English Syntax by Roderick A. Jacobs. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1995). ISBN 0-19-434277-8.. Library Catalogue: P 291 P4

Syntax: an Introduction to the Principles and Parameters Framework,' by Richard C. DeArmond. This manuscript, though out of date, is available on the WWW network. (Out of date.)

click here to read and print this manuscript.

Schedule for Spring 1999

Course Syllabus

A Model of Grammar

Model of Grammar

Structure of the Course:

The course is divided into the following sections:

Phrase Structure Rules
Argument Structure
Theta Theory
Transformational Theory
X-Bar Theory
Case Theory
Binding Theory
Control Theory

Extra Topics

Feature Copying (Transformations)
Feature Targeting (Transformations)
Dummy Insertion (Transformations)

Universal Grammar
Parametric Theory

Language Lab

Using the on-line services of the web is a requirement of the course. The language lab is accessible to all linguistics students.

Exercises:

Source of Exercises

Exercises will be supplied by the instructor. Few will come from the main text. It is the student's responsibility to obtain the exercises for each and follow the instructor's guide. Exercises will be available on the web.

List of Exercises

To go to list of exercises click here.

Cgram, C-command, and Grammar

programmed grammar aids)

Some exercises may be selected using Cgram, a program being designed for syntax students as an aid to learning syntax, or C-Command, which is designed to teach specific modules such as c-command, dominance, sisterhood, and government.

Late Exercises

50% will be taken for exercises not turned in at the end of class on the day required, and 70% per week will be taken off for exercises late by 24 hrs., unless excused by presenting a doctor's note or if there is an extenuating circumstance such as a death in the family. No other excuses will be acceptable. All grade discrepancies must be settled by the end of the last week of classes in the semester.

Stapled Exercises

All homework must be stapled together. 10% will be taken off for unstapled homework.

Written Exercises

Full credit will be given to exercises done on a word processor (or typewriter) (diagrams may be done by hand).
90% credit will be given if the exercises are written in ink (use of white out is acceptable).
0% credit to those written in pencil. Such exercises will be returned to the student unrecorded. In exams, pencil may be used for graphics only. Ink is still required for anything written.

Exams

All exams must be written in ink. The use of white-out is acceptable. Any exam written in pencil will be returned to the student unread.

Sample Exams and Answers to Given Exams:

Course Grading

The assignments will count for a total of 10% of the final grade, attendance 10%, the midterm exam 35% of the final grade, and the final exam 45% of the final grade. Grading will be determined on a fixed scale adjusted to a grading curve. The fixed scale before adjustment is: 100%-90% = A, 89%-80% = B, 79%-70% = C, 69% - 60% = D, 59% - 0% - F.

Marks

Keywords

On line

Many materials are on line. All students are required to be able to access and download relevant information from the net. Machines are available in the language lab and on other places on campus. Tutorials will be offered for students who are not familiar with the web. See below.

Labs

If you do not have Netscape or Internet Explorer on your home computer, the best place to download Netscape and Acrobat Reader is in the Language Lab. It is located in AQ 3020 near the foot of the stairs leading up to the 9th floor where the Dept. of Linguistics is. I will set up an introductory session on how to use the lab and access Netscape leading you through select parts of my homepage and the course outline. Times will be announced at the beginning of the semester.

Definitions

For an informal evaluation of this WWW site and L322, click on evaluation

Forum

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This page last updated 29 MR 2004.