Introduction to Syntax

Syntax is the study of sentence structure – how words are combined to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Humans have the unique ability not only to produce a potentially infinite number of new sentences that they can communicate to others, but also to understand a potentially infinite number of new sentences that others can communicate to them. Syntacticians attempt to characterize the mostly unconscious rules that determine how speakers combine words into phrases and sentences, and how speakers parse the phrases and sentences that they hear or read. In this course, students will be introduced to the core concepts within the field of syntax and become acquainted with methods of syntactic description and analysis. Students will learn to represent the structure of a clause and the relationship between the elements in it using tree diagrams.

Course readings and requirements will be discussed in the first session.