LING 503
Foundations of Syntax
This course is an introduction to syntactic theory with an emphasis on data analysis, critical thinking, and model development.
We will see how various modules of human language systems—primarily the semantic and morphological modules—interact with syntax to affect whether a sentence is grammatical or not, and how universal constraints control or limit a sentence’s grammaticality. Since summer sessions of this course are primarily taken by students in the Master’s in Human Language Technology program, our approach to building a formal grammar will emphasize the coverage of empirical data that would be required in order to appropriately model the full range of human linguistic competence. Consider this course an exploration of the range of natural language data.