This course is an introduction to the central concepts of formal syntactic analysis (parts of speech, phrases, structural relations, clauses, etc.) and the methodology of developing and applying such concepts.
Note: To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, 206-543-8924 (V/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating that you have a disability which requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to the instructor so we can discuss the accommodations you might need in this class.
Students are expected to complete the assigned readings before each lecture. Homeworks are due at the beginning of class on the days indicated. Unavoidable late homework submissions (e.g., due to illness) should be approved in advance by the instructor. Homeworks submitted late without prior approval will have points deducted.
Students may discuss homework assignments with each other, but everyone must write up their assignments separately.
Grades will be based on 8 homework assignments (50%), 2 midterms (25%), a final exam (20%) and class participation (5%). Class participation includes participating in discussions on the EPost bulletin board.
Grading distribution:
| 4.0 = 95% and above | 3.4 = 89% |
| 3.9 = 94% | 3.3 = 88% |
| 3.8 = 93% | 3.2 = 87% |
| 3.7 = 92% | 3.1 = 86% |
| 3.6 = 91% | 3.0 = 85% |
| 3.5 = 90% | and so on |
| Date | Topic | Reading | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/6 | Organization, Introduction | Ch 1 | |
| 1/8 | No class - to be made up as review session at the end of the quarter | ||
| 1/13 | Sentence structure Word-level categories | 2.1-2.3 | |
| 1/15 | Phrasal categories | 2.4-2.6 | HW1 Answer Key Mean: 80 Median: 87.5 |
| 1/20 | Words used as phrases Testing the structure | 2.7-2.8 | |
| 1/22 | Review | HW2 Answer Key Mean: 81 Median: 85 Make up | |
| 1/27 | Midterm | Answer Key Mean: 89 Median: 89 | |
| 1/29 | Guest lecture: The nature of phrase-markers C-command | 3.2-3.3 | |
| 2/3 | Constraints on p-markers Generating p-markers | 3.4-3.5 | |
| 2/5 | Categories Conflating categories The nature of categories NB: Slides updated 2/9/04 | 3.6-3.8 | HW3 Answer Key Mean: 87 Median: 90 |
| 2/10 | NP structures | 4.2-4.4 | HW4 Answer Key (updated 2/23) Mean: 78 Median: 83 |
| 2/12 | Class cancelled (sorry!) | ||
| 2/17 | Optionality, complements v. adjuncts | 4.5-4.6 | |
| 2/19 | Nominal and adjective premodifiers | 4.7-4.8 | HW5 Answer Key (updated 2/25) Mean: 84 Median: 85.75 |
| 2/24 | Review | ||
| 2/26 | Midterm |
Answer Key Mean: 84 Median: 85.75 | |
| 3/2 | Verb phrases, adjectival phrases prepositional phrases | 5.2-5.5 | |
| 3/4 | Generalizing and eliminating categorial rules | 5.6-5.8 | HW6 Answer Key Mean: 89 Median: 91.75 |
| 3/9 | Other clauses | 6.2-6.4 | |
| 3/11 | More on clauses | 6.5-6.8 | HW7 Answer Key Mean: 93 Median: 97 |
| 3/12 9:30-11:30 Balmer 205 | Review | ||
| 3/15 | Final Exam: Smith 307 10:30-12:20 | HW8 (optional) HW 8 Answer Key Mean: 81 Median: 84 Final Answer Key Mean: 84 Median: 85.5 |