Engages students in the scientific study of human language syntax at the intermediate level, building on LINGUIST LINGUIST 120A. Students collectively construct a formal theory of syntax which models individuals' implicit knowledge of language, drawing on data from a variety of languages, including but not limited to English. Emphasis is on exploring how languages are systematically alike in their syntactic structures, and the ways in which they are systematically different. Students engage in hands-on analysis of natural language data as well as the construction and evaluation of syntactic theories. The course focuses on formal developments in the theory of phrase structure (such as X-bar theory) and transformations (such as locality and other constraints on syntactic dependencies). Specific topics covered include head and phrasal movement, case and agreement, raising and control, and the structure of clauses and nominals. Can be taken as LINGUIST LINGUIST 220 by co-term MA students or advanced undergraduates.
4 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
Engages students in the scientific study of human language syntax at the intermediate level, building on LINGUIST 120A. Students collectively construct a formal theory of syntax which models individuals' implicit knowledge of language, drawing on data from a variety of languages, including but not limited to English. Emphasis is on exploring how languages are systematically alike in their syntactic structures, and the ways in which they are systematically different. Students engage in hands-on analysis of natural language data as well as the construction and evaluation of syntactic theories. The course focuses on formal developments in the theory of phrase structure (such as X-bar theory) and transformations (such as locality and other constraints on syntactic dependencies). Specific topics covered include head and phrasal movement, case and agreement, raising and control, and the structure of clauses and nominals. Can be taken as LINGUIST 220 by co-term MA students or advanced undergraduates.
Offered in Winter 2026 at Stanford University.