Syntax
Code
722131083
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Linguística
Credits
10
Teacher in charge
Maria Sousa Lobo Gonçalves
Weekly hours
3 letivas + 1 tutorial
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
The main objectives of the unit are to enable the student to:
i) describe recent hypotheses on the functioning of the syntactic component in the framework of principles and parameters theory and identify variable and invariable aspects of the syntax of natural languages;
ii) relate aspects of syntax with other grammar components;
iii) develop theoretical argumentation based on empirical data, considering syntactic phenomena in different languages.
Prerequisites
None.
Subject matter
1. Principles and parameters theory: from government and binding to minimalismo
2. The architecture of the sentence.
3. Parameters and functional categories.
4. Syntax and informational structure.
Bibliography
Baltin, M. & C. Collins, eds. 2000. The Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Theory. Wiley-Blackwell.
Belletti, Adriana & Luigi Rizzi. 1996. Parameters and Functional Heads. Essays in Comparative Syntax. NY/Oxford, Oxfors Univ. Press.
Cinque, Guglielmo & Richard S. Kayne eds. 2005. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Syntax. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Culicover, P. 1997. Principles and Parameters: An Introduction to Syntactic Theory. (Oxford books in linguistics.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Haegeman, Liliane ed. 1997. The New Comparative Syntax, London/N.Y., Longman.
Roberts, Ian ed. 2007. Comparative Grammar. Routledge.
Teaching method
The seminar includes expository classes, discussion of readings, and practical work that leads the student to verify theoretical hypotheses from linguistic data.
Evaluation method
The evaluation includes a critical revision of a paper (20%), small exercises (20%) and an individual written essay with a description and analysis of a particular topic (60%).