Use the Tab and Up, Down arrow keys to select menu items.
This course follows on from second-year syntax, covering selected advanced topics and current research in syntactic theory.
Minimalism is a syntactic research program that has been very influential over the past 15 years. This course provides a practical introduction to Minimalist syntactic analysis. Building on the theoretical foundations of transformational syntax covered in LING217 / LING 206, we will take a closer look at current approaches to binding theory, theta-roles, phrase structure, and movement. We will discuss different case and agreement systems and examine the nature of raising and control structures. A particular focus of our investigations will be the study of syntactic differences and similarities between a wide range of languages, which we will try to account for in terms of morphosyntactic features and parameter settings. To this end all course participants are asked to collect and analyse data from a language other than English. Students may therefore find it helpful to have some familiarity with another language and/or ready access to a native speaker.Relation to other coursesThis is one of a range of 300-level courses available for students majoring in Linguistics either for the BA or the BSc, alongside LING307, LING310, and LING320. It can also be taken by students majoring in English Language or other disciplines.
Through their experiences with this course, students will be able to: work both independently and collaboratively to identify patterns in syntactic data, formulate and test hypotheses, and tackle syntactic puzzles with no easy solutioncollect foreign language data on a range of syntactic topics and use them to test the limitations of a given theoretical approach to syntactic variationdevelop original arguments based on the analysis and comparison of syntactic data from English and other languagescommunicate their findings effectively, using appropriate linguistic terminology, and supporting their arguments with illustrative examples and diagramsExpectations As with all courses, students will find that the workload varies according to their interests and background. However, most students will have to dedicate at least twice as much time to this course outside class as in class. Since the course focuses on the practical application of syntactic theory, you should expect to spend most of the extra time on the collection and analysis of syntactic data for the workshop preparations and assignment.
LING201 or LING206 or LING211 or LING217
Heidi Quinn
Adger, David; Core syntax: a minimalist approach ; Oxford University Press, 2003 ().
Library portalThe course outline is available on LEARN (only for students enrolled in this course). LEARN
Domestic fee $1,464.00
International fee $5,950.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .