CJJ21 Approaches to Morphosyntax

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2026
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Caha, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Anne-Li Zhu X Demonie, MA (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
Timetable
Fri 10:00–11:40 G13, except Mon 20. 4. to Fri 24. 4.
Prerequisites
English, knowledge of (basic) linguistic terminology, a prior course in syntax and/or morphology is an advantage, but not a necessity.
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: 4/20, 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 15 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Abstract
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;
Key topics
  • intro to nanosyntax;
  • morphosyntactic theory and its application;
  • (cross)-linguistic paradigms;
  • phrasal lexicalisation;
  • independent analysis;
Study resources and literature
  • Caha, Pavel, Karen De Clercq, Michal Starke & Guido Vanden Wyngaerd. 2024. Nanosyntax: state of the art and recent developments. In Nanosyntax and the lexicalisation algorithm, Pavel Caha, Karen De Clercq & Guido Vanden Wyngaerd (eds.), 1–54.
  • 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.
Approaches, practices, and methods used in teaching
Lecture, discussion.
Method of verifying learning outcomes and course completion requirements
Students will be asked to develop a small analysis of their own and write it up in several steps. They will receive guidance to do so at every point of the way. The final term paper will count towards 80% of the grade. The remaining 20% of the grade will come from attendance and active participation in the course.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2027.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2026/CJJ21