Syntax One
Ling 52: Syntax One
This course is an introduction to the study of syntax, in particular, to that approach to syntax known as generative grammar. Generative grammar is a formal theory of grammar, which has grown out of work initiated by Noam Chomsky. Our approach will be to teach about this theory by building up, over the course of the quarter, a (partial) formal theory of English, a grammar, which attempts to model what a native speaker knows, whether consciously or not, about his or her language. This course is Socratically taught: all the material is provided through class discussion and the essay-style homeworks assigned at every class. The goal is to work with this material, using analytic reasoning and techniques of linguistic argumentation, to construct a grammar of English sentences.
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the entry level writing requirement (ELWR)
and Composition (C-2) requirement.
General Education Code: IH (Introduction to Humanities).