This course will be an intensive introduction into syntax, set predominantly within the Minimalist framework (Chomsky 2000, Chomsky 2001, et seq). You will learn how to build syntactic structures, formulate syntactic dependencies and, above all, construct syntactic arguments. Concretely, we will look at the core Minimalist concepts such as the following:

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• Categories and Features

• Merge/Move

• Theta-roles and selection

• Agree

• (Relativized) Minimality

• Strict Cycle Condition

• Phase-locality

• Cyclic SpellOut

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We will see how these can be fruitfully applied to derive a range of grammatical phenomena such as A and A-bar movement, case and phi-agreement, anaphora, control, and argument-structure, among others.  

 

The course will be very hands-on and involve frequent exercises and problem-solving, both in- and out of class.

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Course Textbook:

• Koeneman, Olaf & Hedde Zeijlstra, 2017. Introducing Syntax. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK. 

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Additional Reading:

• Adger, David, 2003. Core Syntax: a Minimalist Approach. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK. 

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