Delivered at:: School of Linguistics

Course type:: Elective course

When:: 4 year, 1, 2 module

Instructor

Belyaev, Oleg

Полная версия программы учебной дисциплины

Аннотация

The Formal Syntax course provides an introduction to the formal study of the natural language syntax. Since the 1950s, syntactic theory has been the cornerstone of theoretical linguistics, especially within the “generative” tradition. Hierarchical syntactic structures have proven useful in analyzing various linguistic phenomena, ranging from sentence prosody to pronominal reference. In class, we will go through the major advances of modern syntactic theory and evaluate its potential and limitations. We start from the basics of the Principles and Parameters model (Chomsky 1981, 1986) and then move to the minimalist syntactic theory (Chomsky 1993 and subsequent work). The enrolled students will have access to contemporary research articles (with the focus on Russian) so that they can get used to the style of argumentation as well as to the use of different syntactic formalisms. We will pay particular attention to the explanatory power of formal syntax and the applicability of its methodology to the study of typologically diverse languages. In the best-case scenario, by the end of the course, students should be able to read and critically assess current syntactic literature, as well as apply their knowledge to various research problems in both theoretical and computational linguistics.

Цель освоения дисциплины

to introduce students to theoretical apparatus, key notions, and main principles of formal generative linguistics
to introduce students to the logic of formal hypothesizing in the light of language data
to introduce students to methodological aspects of formal linguistics
to introduce students to critical thinking and reasoning within formal linguistics

Планируемые результаты обучения

makes empirical observations and theoretical generalizations (in English)
applies their knowledge of the essentials of formal syntax to various research problems in both theoretical and computational linguistics
reads and critically assesses current syntactic literature
understands the mainconcepts and terms of the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995 and subsequent work)
understands the principles of language research within formal generative linguistics

Содержание учебной дисциплины

Introduction

Элементы контроля

test 1
test 2
test 3
test 4
written home assignment 1
Answers to HA should be submitted within a week after they were assigned (i.e. before the beginning of the next class). The deadline is hard, answers submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
written home assignment 2
Answers to HA should be submitted within a week after they were assigned (i.e. before the beginning of the next class). The deadline is hard, answers submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
written home assignment 3
Answers to HA should be submitted within a week after they were assigned (i.e. before the beginning of the next class). The deadline is hard, answers submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
written home assignment 4
Answers to HA should be submitted within a week after they were assigned (i.e. before the beginning of the next class). The deadline is hard, answers submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
экзамен (final presentation)
discussion

Промежуточная аттестация

2021/2022 учебный год 2 модуль
0.05 * test 2 + 0.05 * test 4 + 0.1 * discussion + 0.1 * written home assignment 4 + 0.1 * written home assignment 3 + 0.05 * test 1 + 0.3 * экзамен (final presentation) + 0.1 * written home assignment 1 + 0.05 * test 3 + 0.1 * written home assignment 2

Bachelor’s Programme 'Fundamental and Computational Linguistics'

Formal Syntax

Instructor

Программа дисциплины

Аннотация

Цель освоения дисциплины

Планируемые результаты обучения

Содержание учебной дисциплины

Элементы контроля

Промежуточная аттестация

Список литературы

Рекомендуемая основная литература

Рекомендуемая дополнительная литература