GISDepartment of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies

The study of syntax (in particular that of English) via investigation and experiment.

Two goals. First, an insight into the nature of syntax. Secondly, a better grasp of how to go about understanding any phenomena that at first seem baffling, or in other words the acquisition of some aspects of scientific method via the careful examination of language.

Will be able to gain “DP 1”, “DP 2”, and “DP 4”.

英語 / English

We use a textbook that does not presuppose a knowledge of linguistics but does assume that the reader has an intellectual curiosity and an appetite for language-related exercises and real thinking. This will be very much a “300-level” course, or anyway a course for thinking adults.


Students both submit work for assignments and get comments on this work via “Hoppii”.

あり / Yes

なし / No

授業形態/methods of teaching：対面/face to face

※各回の授業形態は予定です。教員の指示に従ってください。

1[オンライン/online]：Introduction

Linguistics and syntax reintroduced

2[対面/face to face]：Phrase Structure Rules

Sentence-generation rules; phrase structure rules; tree diagrams

3[対面/face to face]：Hypothesized Grammars

Grammars as hypothesized by linguists; testing hypothesized grammars

4[対面/face to face]：Comparing Rules and Theories

Comparing rules that have different implications; comparing grammars that seem to have the same implications

5[対面/face to face]：Constituency

What constituency is and how to test for it

6[対面/face to face]：Trees and Tree Relations; Category

Syntactic trees; proforms; antecedents; c-command; categories of words (parts of speech) and of phrases, and category determination

7[対面/face to face]：Revising Grammars

Refresher in logic; experimentation; bug-fixing and refinements

8[対面/face to face]：Introducing the Lexicon; Features, Heads and Phrases

The categorial and the subcategorial; features and feature inheritance; exocentric phrases; theta-roles; modification

9[対面/face to face]：Complements and Adjuncts

Diagnostics for, and complications in, the distinction between complements and adjuncts

10[対面/face to face]：Complement Sentences (i)

Embedded sentences; the complementizers that and whether; clauses versus sentences

11[対面/face to face]：Complement Sentences (ii)

Finiteness and the Tense feature; TP and CP

12[対面/face to face]：Invisible Lexical Items

Hidden subjects; dummy subjects; thematic structure

13[対面/face to face]：Noun Phrase Structure

Noun phrases with quasi-objects and subjects; N-bar and noun complements and modifiers/adjuncts

14[対面/face to face]：X-bar Theory

Preposition phrase modifiers and P-bar; generalizing across T-bar, N-bar, and P-bar for an abstract X-bar; implications of X-bar for language acquisition

Reading with maximum concentration (without background music or other distractions), hard thinking, doing the various exercises, and probably also discussion with classmates of the content and exercises. Allow two hours a week for this. Also, weekly assignments, which consolidate what has been covered in class. An assignment might, as an example, ask students to think through the implications of two candidate syntax trees (diagrams of constituent structure) for the same one sentence, and thus to point out why one of the candidates should be discarded. Allow two hours a week for the assignment too.

Richard K Larson, Grammar as Science (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010; ISBN 978-0-262-51303-6)

No additional reading is required.

Work done for assignments: 100%

Dropping the section on formal arguments, dropping the exercises-only weeks, and evaluating by weekly assignments alone. This frees up a lot of class time: we can slow down in some places but nevertheless cover a considerable amount of material.

● http://tinyurl.com/theoretical-syntax makes each class slideshow available to anyone, anywhere.
● Though the course has no formal prerequisite, students will need an interest in language and an appetite for a rigorous approach and for hard thinking.

None.