LING610
Syntactic Theory
Fall 2014

THERE WILL BE CLASS NOV. 20, BUT A SHORT ONE 2:00 - 2:55 (because of  Baggett Lecture starting at 3:00)  

-Readings for Sept. 2:  Syntactic Structures Revisited to page 35; Syntactic Structures to page 33 [Please bring these 2 books to class for the first few meetings]
-Readings for Sept. 9: Syntactic Structures Revisited to page 49; Syntactic Structures to page 48. HO on equivalent derivations. Here are a few notes about things we have been discussing.And here are the multiple center embedding examples I mentioned.
-> HW 1, due Tuesday Sept. 16. [Homework revision policy.]  [[[pdf submission by e-mail is encouraged.]]]
-Readings for Sept. 16
Syntactic Structures Revisited  to page 105
Syntactic Structures  Chapter 7
[Suggested readings: Syntactic Structures Ch. 6; Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Ch. 1]
Here's the Lasnik-Kupin article, which, among other things, introduces Reduced Phrase Markers. [Not required reading, just in case you're interested.]
-Readings for Sept. 23
Continue Sept. 16 readings and add the following:
Syntactic Structures Revisited  to page 165
1 more optional reading Lasnik 1981.
(-> HW1 revision due Sept. 23 , if you elect the option to re-do)
-> HW 2, due Tuesday Sept. 30
-Readings for Sept. 30
Finish the Syntactic Structures and Syntactic Structures Revisited readings previously assigned.
(-> HW2 revision due Oct. 7, if you elect the option to re-do)
-Readings for Oct. 7
Syntactic Structures Revisited  to page 165
A Course in GB Syntax  pp.1-5
-Readings for Oct. 14
Case Theory and A-Movement
Finish Oct. 7 readings. Heres a summary of the 'wish list' theory of trnsformations.
Start "Case and Passives" Handout
-Readings for Oct. 21
Finish "Case and Passives" Handout
[Suggested readings: Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Ch.2, Section 4 and Ch.3; Grimshaw "Complement Selection and the Lexicon", which argues that we need both semantic selection and (syntactic) subcategorization.]
[Here's Vergnaud's letter to Chomsky and me (giving comments on the ms. of "Filters and Control") inventing Case theory, as published in Freidin and Lasnik, Syntax: Critical Concepts. And here's the Lasnik-Freidin 1981 article pointing out the problem raised by null operators for the morphological version of the Case Filter.]
-> HW 3 , due Tuesday Oct. 28
-Readings for Oct. 28
Binding Theory
-Lasnik and Uriagereka  Chap. 2
-Lasnik, H. 1994. "Noam Chomsky on Anaphora"
-Handout summarizing the development of binding theory 1973-1986   [revised 10/28/14; 11/8/14]
-Readings for Nov. 4
Continue Oct. 28 readings; Lasnik 1981 "On Two Recent Treatments of Disjoint Reference"
[Optional (in case you want to see earlier and later history than the Oct. 28 HO gives, and a few authors in addition to Chomsky]: HO on the history of Binding Theory from 1955 to 1998]
->Squib assignment 'Proposal' due Nov. 20; squib due Dec. 17
-Readings for Nov. 11
Finish Oct. 28-Nov. 4 readings
-> HW 4 , due Tuesday Nov. 18
-Readings for Nov. 18
WH-Movement and Bounding Theory - Islands and Subjacency:
Subjacency Intro handout
'Brief Overview of Subjacency/Islands 1955- '
Lasnik and Uriagereka  Chap. 4
[Optional: Rizzi's famous paper on Italian Wh-island violations. See especially the 2nd paragraph of fn. 25, the only part of the paper anyone still remembers.]
THERE WILL BE CLASS NOV. 20, BUT A SHORT ONE 2:00 - 2:55 (because of  Baggett Lecture starting at 3:00)
-Readings for Nov. 25 - Dec. 2
Lasnik and Uriagereka  Chap. 4
ECP handout    [This has been revised 12/1]
Lasnik and Saito 1992 Move Alpha  pp.70-75 (This summarizes and explicates the Barriers technology)
ECP handout Part 2: More on argument -adjunct island asymmetries
-> HW 5 , due Tuesday Dec. 9
Transition to Minimalism
-Readings for Dec. 9
Handout on Government (and the potential for eliminating it)
Handout on Superiority and Attract
Lasnik (2006) "Minimalism"    (Optional)

Typos in Syntactic Structures Revisited

-p. viii 8 lines from bottom. "Cédric" should read "Cedric".
-p.43 (121)a. This ex. should read "John says he is tired"
-p.58 (22). The last symbol on the 1st line of this ex. Should be 'Verb', not 'V'.
-p.76 mid. Lasnik's reply to Vukic should begin "Yes, clearly SAI is ..."
-p.82 3rd line below (87). The end of this line should read "...a do will be ..."  [instead of "a # will be"]
-p.113 (158). The leftmost daughter of S should be C (instead of NP).
-p.116 (163). The SC of Transformation 2 should read  "X1 - X2 - X3 -> r + X1 - X2 - X3"
-p.130 4th and 5th lines of 1st full para. Replace "transformational" by "PS".
-p.206. The Warner entry in the References should be  12, 153-172
-p.213 (i.e. the beginning of the list of rules from Syntactic Structures). The last symbol in the SC of T12 Passive should be X1 (instead of X2).
-p.213 Phrase structure rule 3. In the second expansion of NP, the final 'l' should be on the same level as the subscript 'p'.

If you find any more typos, please let me know.

useful links

Lasnik publications
pdf locker