Syntax I

Next semester, I’ll be teaching a “Topics in Linguistics” course on questions. You can take a look at the sketchy and tentative syllabus online if you’re curious about what kinds of things we might be talking about.

You’re all eligible to take that course, as it has this course and no other courses as a prerequisite.

Although you’ve probably already registered, there’s no problem switching into the course now, or in the future (but now’s better because it helps me get an idea how many people will be in it).

And if the syllabus wasn’t enough to intrigue you, here’s another great reason you might consider: The CAS LX 500 course next semester will count toward the elusive “linguistic analysis of a specific language” requirement for the Linguistics major. There’s a chronic shortage of courses available to meet this requirement, but this one will, so if you’re looking to get that requirement out of the way, sign right on up!

The course should be quite interesting, I think. It’s unique in a couple of respects. First: it’s unique because it’s not regularly offered, there are no plans as of now to do it again, certainly not in the immediate future. Second: It provides a rare opportunity to go into some depth on a single topic, and analyze it from several different angles. We’ll start with the syntax and typology of questions across languages, but we’ll also get into the semantics, phonology, pragmatics, and acquisition of questions as well. Only this course (LX522) is a prerequisite, but it should fit in nicely taken concurrently with Semantics (LX502) or Phonology (LX513) or even Syntax II (LX523). Again, though, nothing but LX522 is required or expected.

So, check out the syllabus, look over your schedule for next semester, consider whether you still need to satisfy the “analysis of a specific language” requirement, and register if you’re interested..

I announced this in class, but for the record: if you choose to do the extra credit (Trees are easy to draw) and turn it in to me sometime prior to the final, it can count for up to two homework scores.

Here’s how that works: If you basically ace that extra credit assignment, that’s two √++es in place of your second- and third-lowest homework scores. Partial credit is possible, so even if it doesn’t raise your lowest homework scores all the way to that level, it will improve them.

But the limit on extra credit for homeworks is nevertheless two homeworks’ worth. This means that if you also turned in BUCLD talk summaries, the potential available extra credit for the new extra credit assignment is less, but then again, it’s also easier to reach √++es on both of them. If you happen to already have √++es on everything, then the extra credit won’t actually result in anything extra (but it will still have a certain character-building value, I suppose).

This is kind of complicated, sorry, but I want it to be relatively fair. So, in summary, you will have 11 homework scores total by the end of the semester. The lowest one will be forgotten. The next two lowest ones are vulnerable to being improved/replaced by turning in the extra credit assignment(s). Your highest 8 scores are whatever they are. Maybe it’s not that complicated after all.

I have a conflict with my normal office hours time on Monday 12/5, so they’ll be from 1-2pm instead on that day.

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, the fact that she and Mary can’t be the same person in the question Which song about Mary does she like? is astounding. In case you’ve been so busy checking features and finding PRO that you haven’t had a chance to observe what an intricate set of (largely correct) predictions this model of syntax is making about our knowledge of language, it might be worth taking a moment just to marvel at it.

Ask your relatives why she can’t be Mary. They’ll be surprised that it can’t, and then if they’re so inclined to think about it, they’re not going to remember ever being taught that.

By the way, just a quick note. In the last class, we met “phases”, which have as a consequence that a wh-word that moves from a lower clause to a higher clause has to stop off partway up. You didn’t officially know this prior to homework 10, so it’s not a problem if, say, you already gave it to me and your wh-words moved in one fell swoop. Or, for that matter, if you give it to me Tuesday and they do.

I’ve finally completed the complex extra credit assignment that I was trying to have ready for Tuesday (you can download the PDF file).

It’s a relatively long excursion into what we need to suppose in order to draw a tree for the sentence Trees are easy to draw. I quite like it, actually—but it’s significantly more challenging (or at least more involved) than any homework assignment so far. It also is quite wide-ranging, making use of topics we’ve covered throughout the semester, from constituency tests up to phases. Honestly, if I’d written it over the summer, it would probably have been a take-home final.

I’m still debating how best to count this, and I’ll announce my decision about it in class on Tuesday. It will probably be worth more than just a single homework score, given how involved it is.

There is no due date on this problem, apart from the end of the semester.

For your amusement, a step-by-step derivation of Carmela said AJ’s advisor was told that AJ might want to study event-planning and of The continuous drawing of complicated trees builds strong character.

It might be useful to read through these (although be warned that it’s just about 50 pages long). The PDF file is linked to the syllabus, or you can click here: Sample derivations.

You may remember on homework 5, we figured out that to was a modal, and in your analysis of the sentence I wanted Joss not to have been making movies, we had to say that the modal to is special in that it doesn’t raise to T.

I just noticed that on handout 10b, I’d accidentally drawn to moving to T. I’ve posted an updated handout on the syllabus page with that fixed.

I’ve gotten enough last minute questions on this one that I think I want to give you a little bit longer on this last homework. So, you can hand it in after break, although if you’re happy with it (if you understand it, you’ll probably know, there aren’t really that many “tricks” involved) and want to give it to me today, fine.

I was never planning on assigning a homework over this break anyway, so this won’t put anyone behind, really.

I was, however, planning to release an “extra credit” assignment that you could do, if you so desired. I had what I thought was a pretty nice one worked out concerning the (famous, old, and practically insoluble problem of how to analyze sentences like Trees are easy to draw), but by the time I got it most of the way done, I’d seen a flaw in the approach I was guiding you toward. So, I’ll have to post it later, once the break has begun. There won’t be a deadline for it, except just the end of the semester.

Just a reminder about the final exam date, which is—frighteningly enough—only a month away. It’s on Saturday morning, 12/17. If you have an urgent conflict, please let me know as soon as you can so we can try to arrange something.