CJJ21 Approaches to Morphosyntax

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2024

The course is not taught in Autumn 2024

Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Anne-Li Demonie, MA (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Caha, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Hana Žižková, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Pavel Caha, Ph.D.
Department of Czech Language – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Bc. Silvie Hulewicz, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of Czech Language – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
English, basic linguistic terminology, having followed a prior course in syntax and/or morphology.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 12 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim of this course is to introduce and familiarise the students with the main tenets and analytical tools used in Nanosyntax, a current theory of morphosyntax, which tries to explain the general rules of interaction between morphemes (ordering, allomorphy) as well as relations between form and meaning (agglutination, fusion, etc.). While some theoretical notions are essential to this course, the primary focus will be on empirical data and learning how to make sense of such data using this theory.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the student is able to:
- analyse the distribution of markers in paradigms;
- generate simple paradigms using rules of exponence and their interaction;
- understand notions such as the Superset Principle and the lexicalisation algorithm, and use them in order to model and derive the interaction of exponents;
- analyse the structure of words using head movement and phrasal movement;
Syllabus
  • intro to nanosyntax;
  • morphosyntactic theory and its application;
  • (cross)-linguistic paradigms;
  • phrasal lexicalisation;
  • independent analysis;
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Baunaz, Lena & Eric Lander. 2018. Nanosyntax: the basics. In: Baunaz, Lena; De Clercq, Karen; Haegeman, Liliane; Lander, Eric. Exploring Nanosyntax. New York: Oxford University Press, 3-56.
  • Starke, M. 2009. Nanosyntax. A Short Primer to a New Approach to Language. In P. Svenonius, G. Ramchand, M. Starke & T. Taraldsen (eds.), Nordlyd 36: Special issue on Nanosyntax, 1–6. Tromsø: University of Tromsø.
  • Caha, Pavel, Karen De Clercq, Michal Starke & Guido Vanden Wyn- gaerd. 2023. Nanosyntax: State of the art and recent developments. In Pavel Caha, Karen De Clercq & Guido Vanden Wyngaerd (eds.), Nanosyntax and the lexicalisation algorithm, lingbuzz/00774
Teaching methods
Lecture, discussion.
Assessment methods
The students will be assessed on 4 presentations: (i) a 5-10 min discussion of an assigned data set, (ii) a 5-10 min discussion of a similar data set in a different language, (iii) a 5-10 min discussion of a preliminary analysis in Nanosyntax, (iv) a final 15 min presentation of the whole research project. The grade will be determined on the basis of effort, gradual progress throughout the semester and active participation in class.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2024, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2024/CJJ21