Fall 2008
Graduate Institute of Linguistics
Fu Jen Catholic University
Course Syllabus
Syntax
Instructor & Class Info
Instructor: Zixuan Li (李子瑄)
E-mail: 069292@mail.fju.edu.tw
Course Time: Tuesday 10:00 a.m. – 01:00 p.m.
Office Hours: By appointment
Website: http://140.136.213.100/claroline173
Readings:
1. Textbook: Haegeman, Liliane. (1994) Introduction to Government & Binding Theory.
Blackwell, Oxford.
2. Papers: We will also read several shorter papers. Photocopies of these will be made
available in class.
Grading: Participation 10%
Assignments 30%
Mid-term Exam 30%
Final Exam 30%
Course Goals and Requirements
The course aims to give students the ability to address questions regarding the syntactic
properties that are shared by natural languages (as well as those that distinguish them) in
a precise and informed way.
The topics cover principles that govern phrase structure (the composition of phrases and
sentences), movement (dependencies between syntactic constituents), and binding (the
interpretation of different types of noun phrases). Although most of the evidence
discussed in the class will come from both English and Mandarin, evidence from other
languages will also play an important role in keeping with the comparative and
universalistic perspective of modern syntactic theory.
The expected contribution of students to class includes: regular class attendance and
participation, completion of readings and assignments, 2 tests, and one final paper (5–10
pages). The final paper may be a critical discussion of some particular syntactic
arguments or constructions, or an application of an analysis to a non-English language.
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Fall 2008
Graduate Institute of Linguistics
Fu Jen Catholic University
Syllabus
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
Week 18
Introduction and Foundations
Constituent Structure
Phrase Structure (X-bar Theory)
Case theory
Anaphoric Relations and Overt NPs
Non-overt Categories: PRO and Control
NP-movement
-dittoMidterm Exam
Wh-movement
-dittoAn Inventory of Empty Category
Logical Form
Barriers
Functional heads and head movement
Relativized Minimality
-dittoFinal Exam
References
Abney, Steven Paul. 1987. The English noun phrase in its sentential aspect. Doctoral
Dissertation, MIT.
Belletti, Adriana. 1988. The case of unaccusatives. Linguistic Inquiry 19:1–34.
Chomsky, Noam. 1986. Knowledge of language: Its nature, origin and use. New York:
Praeger.
Koopman, Hilda, and Dominique Sportiche. 1991. The position of subjects. Lingua
85:211–258.
Larson, Richard K. 1988. On the double object construction. Linguistic Inquiry 335–391.
Pollock, Jean-Yves. 1989. Verb movement, universal grammar, and the structure of IP.
Linguistic Inquiry 20:365–424.
Rizzi, Luigi. 1997. The fine structure of the left periphery. In Elements of grammar: A
handbook of generative syntax , ed. Liliane Haegeman, 281–337. Dordrecht:
Kluwer.
Stowell, Timothy. 1981. Origins of phrase structure. Doctoral Dissertation, MIT.
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