SPAN 508 Generative Syntax

This course offers an introduction to generative syntax. It explores the advantages of scientific approaches to explaining human linguistic knowledge, emphasizing models that not only account for how language works but also generate predictions about how it is represented in the mind. The course focuses on the core ideas of the Minimalist Program. In addition, we will examine linguistic typology to understand how languages vary and what they share, with the goal of identifying the features that a comprehensive theory of language should include. Course objectives include developing practical skills in conducting quantitative syntactic analyses with speech corpora or testing hypotheses through experimental methods. Working individually and jointly, students will learn to distill findings into suitable format for scholarly venues and, by the end of the course, should have a paper to submit as a conference abstract and develop for journal submission.