Linguistics 221a: |
| Ivan A. Sag | Office: Bldg. 460, Room 103. Tel: +1 650-723-1578 | |
| Office Hours: | TBA | |
| Email: | sag at stanford period edu |
A goal of this course is to provide an introduction to key problems in the grammar of English. This year, this course will provide a quick historical overview of Generalized Phrase Structure grammar (GPSG) and Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG). It will then provide a systematic introduction to the variety of Construction Grammar called Sign-Based Construction Grammar (SBCG), which synthesizes ideas of Berkeley Construction Grammar (BCG) and HPSG. We will read drafts of papers from the forthcoming volume on SBCG, edited by Hans Boas and Ivan Sag. This volume will contain papers by both of them and also by Jóhanna Barðdal, Thórhallur Eythórsson, Charles Fillmore, Paul Kay, Laura Michaelis, Stefan Müller, and Gert Webelhuth.
Students are expected to have some background in syntax and semantics and not to be afraid of mathematical formalisms. I am expecting that enrolled students will have had the L222A -- L222B sequence already (or some approximation thereof), so that we can move through the readings quickly. For a syllabus and further links relevant to class lecture and discussion, see below.
The first meeting of this class will be Wednesday, April 1 at 5:15 PM.
Students are expected to complete the assigned readings before each class. This may be challenging in some weeks. Class lectures will connect with the readings, but not everything in the readings will be covered in class. Requirements include several 2-page essays discussing any topic directly relevant to the course. Students should find a research topic early, so as to be able to produce a research paper suitable for conference presentation developing an SBCG analysis. This paper will be due by Saturday, June 13.
Coursework reduction can be negotiated for students enrolled for fewer than 3 units. People pursuing research projects that began in last term's Ling 222B may try to negotiate a plan for integrating that research with this course's requirements.
| Day | Date | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| W | 4/1 | Introduction. Historical Background |
| M | 4/6 | HPSG: an overview |
| W | 4/8 | Clausal Constructions and Lexical Projection |
| M | 4/13 | Semantics in HPSG |
| W | 4/15 | Implementing HPSG |
| M-F | 4/20--24 | Reading Period: Find a Problem to Work On. No class meetings. |
| M | 4/27 | Filler-Gap Dependencies |
| W | 4/29 | Interrogative Clauses |
| M | 5/4 | Locality, Lexical Selection, and Constructions |
| W | 5/6 | Sign-Based Construction Grammar: An Overview |
| M | 5/11 | TBA |
| W | 5/13 | TBA |
| M | 5/18 | TBA |
| W | 5/20 | TBA |
| M | 5/25 | Memorial Day Holiday: No Class |
| W | 5/27 | TBA |
| M | 6/1 | TBA |
| W | 6/3 | TBA |
Last updated 31 Mar 2009 by Ivan A. Sag.