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LINGUIST 313

LEXICAL FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR

Ling 313 assumes a basic knowledge of key syntactic concepts, such as word classes, constituency and phrase structure and introduces the key components of a major theory of syntax: Lexical Functional Grammar, (Bresnan, 1987, 2001). If it is a while since you took Linguist 200, or did not take it, you can access the notes from previous Linguist 200 courses here. (NB Linguist 200 will cover slightly different content this year, with little by way of intro to LFG but plenty on structural analysis that will be helpful. So, even if you are taking Linguist 200 concurrently with 313 this year, it would still be advisable to look at the 200 notes from previous years).

 Instructor: Helen Charters; h.charters@auckland.ac.nz.

            Office hours: Weds 3 pm, Thurs 10 am Rm 326, Arts 2.

 Lecture times:   Mon 3 pm, Thurs 11 am                 

NB: Check Lecture and tutorial venues on SSO before each class for the first 2 weeks.

Set  Text

Falk, Yehuda 2001.  Lexical Functional Grammar: An Introduction to Parallel Constraint-Based Syntax. Stanford, Calif.: CSLI Publications.

Further assigned readings will be available on Canvas.

The ONLINE COURSEBOOK contains handouts for the Lectures. You can use the handouts as a study guide or outline to follow during class. Tutorials are available here.

COURSE FORMAT

Two lectures and one tutorial each week. In tutorials you'll work on practical exercises in the same format as take-home exercises; active participation in tutorials is likely to have a significant impact on your final grade!

Expectations

This course is expected to require an average of 10 hours per week, including reading, attending lectures, participating actively in /tutorials, revising notes, and preparing for assignments/exams. Students are expected to read assigned readings before class and to raise their questions during lectures and tutorial times. These will be answered in class as far as time permits.

COURSE AIMS/OUTCOMES

By the end of this course you will have been given explanations of:

  • The key characteristics of  Lexical Functional Grammar
  • How feature unification gives rise to morphological agreement
  • The notions of configurationality and non-configurationality and how these relate to 'endocentric' and 'lexocentric' structure;
  • How the Endocentric Mapping Principles constrain the possible constituent structures of configurational languages.
  • How Lexical Mapping Theory seeks to explain Grammatical Function (GF) assignment, by relating a thematic hierarchy and a hierarchy of GFs

and you should be able to:

  • Apply tests of constituency and relate them to f-structural and/or c-structural representations, as appropriate, for simple and complex sentences,
  • Propose lexical features for words of different classes based on example sentences  from different language types
  • Draw c-structure and f-structure representations of grammatical utterances, based on known lexical structures and c-structure rules
  • Make sensible (theoretically based) choices between alternative analyses of the same utterance
  • Identify violations of various conditions on grammaticality:

Uniqueness, Completeness & Coherence; Extended coherence; Structure-Function bi-uniqueness

Assignments: best 3 of 4 short problems; I analytical essay 2,000- 2500  words. Advice on the essay is available  here: Writing an Essay in Formal Syntax (313).doc

Presentation of assignments:

You should follow a consistent style for citations and references in your essay.  One acceptable one is the APA style, which you can find in summary form on this Library webpage:  http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/instruct/ref/APA.html.

You are expected to proof read your work before submitting it AND keep a clean copy in case an assignment is lost before marking.

Submission of Assignments:

You should place your finished assignment with cover sheet attached in the appropriate box at the Reception area on Level 3 of the Arts 1 Building.  For an essay, submit an electronic copy using the turnitin window under assignments > Essay on or before the due date.

 

 There are penalties of up to 10% for submitting work late without an extension.  Extensions may be given in special circumstances; applications for extensions should be made WELL BEFORE the due date if possible. 

For more information, see

https://policies.auckland.ac.nz/policy-display-register/student-academic-conduct-statute.pdf

Praise and/or Complaints

Praise or Complaints about the course (teaching, materials, behaviour in class etc) should be raised first with the lecturer or course convenor, and if this does not resolve the issue, with a Staff member from a different section, on the Staff-Student Committee.  Time is set aside for this at the meetings twice a semester. The Class rep may help with this.  For urgent matters see the head of Department, and see other advice on the AUSA web site http://www.ausa.auckland.ac.nz/wave/grievance.html).

For more information/Help

  1. Course handouts, lecture notes and resources are placed on CANVAS.
  2. Check LEARN for helpful information on researching skills, including searches and information on referencing.
  3. For literature searches on library homepage: DATABASES & ARTICLES > L> Linguistics and Language Behaviour Abstracts, use key words (e.g. “<language name>” “Descriptive grammar”, "passives in...") to find readings for your assignments. Also look at the reference lists on your readings.
  4. For articles using LFG to analyse languages: http://cslipublications.stanford.edu/LFG/
  5. The DALSL subject librarian, Lai Kei Pang is available to help students with searching databases for assignments (l.pang@auckland.ac.nz).
  6. The Student Learning Centre offers courses and one-on-one assistance with essay writing and research skills. (slc.auckland.ac.nz). ESLAC, located in Kate Edgar Commons, also provides free programs for improving skills in writing in English
  7. http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/for/currentstudents/academiclife/aegrotatinfo.cfm

STUDENTS WITH IMPAIRMENTS are asked to discuss privately with the course convenor (face–to-face and/or by email) any impairment-related requirements regarding delivery of course content or course assessments. Please contact Helen Charters as soon as possible if you have any impairment-related needs.

Course summary:

Date Details Due