Meeting time. 2:00-3:30pm Tuesdays and Thursdays, in KCB 107.

Professor. Paul Hagstrom, Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures. Office: 621 Commonwealth Ave., Room 105. Email: hagstrom@bu.edu (likely to get a quick response). Phone: 617-353-6220 (x3-6220). Office hours: TR 4-5, W12-1.

Prerequisites. CAS LX 250 (a.k.a. CAS LX 253) ("Foundations of Language"–Intro to linguistics), or equivalent.

Course goals. This is part one of a two-part syntax course. In the first semester, we will concentrate on introducing some fundamental concepts of the "Principles & Parameters" approach to syntax. We will be covering concepts from the Minimalist Program for linguistic theory and Government and Binding, both central to most current work in theoretical syntax. We will make our way pretty much entirely through the course textbook, with some supplementary materials as well (to be be made available as the course progresses).

Course Requirements. Homework. Weekly homework assignments. Midterm exam. In class, Thursday, October 19. Final exam. Time and place TBA.

Homework. Whenever feasible, homework can be emailed to me at hagstrom@bu.edu. Text-only is preferred, but you may also send PDF, RTF, or Microsoft Word files. Postscript files are less welcome, and don’t even bother sending Word Perfect, TeX or LaTeX files. Wherever email won’t work for any reason (e.g., for tree diagrams), homework can be turned in at the beginning of class. Be aware that if you use any special fonts, I may not be able to read your homework–be sure you know how to "include" nonstandard fonts (or send it to me early, so I can let you know if I was unable to read it).

Late assignments. Late assignments will not be accepted without prior arrangement.

Textbook (required). Adger, David (2003). Core syntax: A minimalist approach. Oxford University Press. The BU Bookstore should have copies, although it might be worth checking to see if it is cheaper to get it elsewhere (e.g., Amazon or Oxford). It should be about $35. Note: This is the same textbook as last year, so you might be able to score a used copy.

Readings. Occasionally, supplemental readings may be assigned. These readings will be available in the hallway outside my office suite, in a folder labeled LX522. You may take the readings out for no more than an hour to make a personal photocopy, and then they should be returned to the folder so that others may photocopy them.

CAS Student Academic Conduct Code. As a member of a CAS course, it is essential that you read and adhere to the CAS Student Academic Conduct Code. In particular, several types of plagiarism (any attempt to represent the work of another as your own) are defined by this academic conduct code. A copy is available in CAS 105.