Historial Syntax

LELA60692 Historial Syntax 15 Semester 2 Postgraduate Taught Level 6 George Walkden Unit coordinator Linguistics & English Language 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 7.5 Syntax is often thought of as being one of the more stable areas of any language. Nevertheless, syntactic change frequently occurs. This course aims to provide students with the means to investigate it, drawing for the most part on data from the history of English. Key questions include: How do we analyse the syntax of dead languages without access to judgement data? Why does syntax change? Is syntactic change a ‘random walk’, or does it follow fixed pathways? To what extent does syntactic theory shed light on change? Syntax is often thought of as being one of the more stable areas of any language. Nevertheless, syntactic change frequently occurs. This course aims to provide students with the means to investigate it, drawing for the most part on data from the history of English. Key questions include: How do we analyse the syntax of dead languages without access to judgement data? Why does syntax change? Is syntactic change a ‘random walk’, or does it follow fixed pathways? To what extent does syntactic theory shed light on change? The principal aims of the course unit are as follows:·                Familiarize students with the key issues in diachronic linguistics, with specific reference to syntax.·                Build bridges between linguistic theorizing and historical linguistic argumentation and evidence.Provide a springboard for independent engagement with the research literature as MA students make  By the end of this course students will be able to:<ul> <li> Assess different approaches to syntactic variation and change.</li> <li> Recognize attested pathways of syntactic change.</li> <li> Assess appropriate methods of data collection and quantitative and qualitative analysis.</li></ul>Relate syntactic change to other linguistic subdisciplines such as syntactic theory, corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics, contact linguistics, and typology. By the end of this course students will be able to:Apply syntactic theory in diachrony. By the end of this course students will be able to:·         Read and assess primary research literature, and present their findings orally.·         Construct an argument and/or present research findings with bearing on current debates in historical linguistics.·         Interpret historical corpus data and assess it for completeness and coherence.Contribute to the discourse on the history of languages and the nature of language change. By the end of this course students will be able to:·         Analyse data from historical texts and corpus sources.Condense, summarize and present written material on a complex topic – both orally and in writing. Other Targeted presentation skills; written report preparation; understanding of the roles of contingency and determinism in processes of change. Lecture 1. Introduction to historical syntaxLecture 2. ReanalysisLecture 3. Parameters and parametric changeLecture 4. GrammaticalizationLecture 5. Pathways of changeLecture 6. Formal approaches to grammaticalizationLecture 7. Competing grammarsLecture 8. Sociohistorical syntaxLecture 9. Typology and syntactic changeLecture 10. Contact and syntactic changeLecture 11. Syntactic reconstruction (and revision) One 2-hour lecture per week; four enhancement meetings (to be arranged) 0 Other 100% Informal  presentations of research literature, 10 - 15 minutes, with 5 minutes for questions, 30%Essay or research report, up to 3,000 words, 70% ·         Written feedback sheet for each candidate (presentation)·         Written feedback via Turnitin (assessed coursework)Opportunities for oral feedback during office hours and enhancement meetings No formal prerequisite, but some background knowledge of either historical linguistics or syntax or both is desirable in order to get the most out of this course – if in doubt, please consult with the course convenor. Y Harris, Alice C., & Lyle Campbell. 1995. Historical syntax in cross-linguistic perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.McMahon, April. 1994. Understanding language change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Roberts, Ian G. 2007. Diachronic syntax. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Further reading will be suggested during the semester. 0 0 124