Admission requirements
An introductory course in (generative English) syntax and/or a course in (English) linguistics. If in doubt, consult the course tutor before registering. Suggested reading material to prepare for the course are: Haegeman & Gueron (1999) English Grammar. A generative Perspective. Wiley-Blackwell.; Carnie, A. (2007) Syntax. A Generative Introduction. Blackwell Publishing.
Description
English has many types of noun phrases that differ in meaning and structure. This course will look at the various types of noun phrases found in English, and using the framework of generative syntactic theory, it will investigate their external distribution and internal composition. On the basis of a number of research articles, we will discuss various issues concerning the build-up of noun phrases, such as: the position and types of determiners that nouns can occur with; the structure of possessive constructions; different types of nominal modifiers; nominalizations and argument structure within noun phrases. We will also look at anaphoric noun phrases and noun phrases containing ellipsis. The focus of the course will be on English, but occasionally we will consider noun phrase structures from other languages was well, as part of the readings.
Course objectives
The students gain insights into basic syntactic argumentation.
The students are familiar with the descriptive and analytical methods used to describe and analyze noun phrases in English.
The students are able to use the acquired knowledge in their own written work.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the “MA Linguistics website”: http://hum.leiden.edu/linguistics/timetables-linguistics/timetableslinguistics.html.
Mode of instruction
Seminar.
Course Load
time spent on attending seminars: 26 hours
time for studying the compulsory literature and preparing for the presentation: 132 hours
time to write a paper (including reading/research): 122 hours
Assessment method
Presentation: 25 %
Final essay: 75%
The final grade consists of weighted average of the above components
Resit: students who fail the course may resit the final essay.
Blackboard
This course will be supported by Blackboard.
Reading list
A number of recent articles/chapters (to be announced and made available).
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
When registering, students that are registered for the specialisation that this course belongs to, or the Research Master, take priority. The deadline for registration is August 15. All other students should contact the “coordinator of studies”:http://hum.leiden.edu/linguistics/advice-linguistics/.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration Studeren à la carte via: www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/onderwijs/alacarte
Registration Contractonderwijs via: http://www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/onderwijs/contractonderwijs/