LING L614 Alternative Linguistic Theories

This course provides an introduction to Head-Driven Phrase Structure
Grammar(HPSG), one of the most influential current frameworks for
syntactic analysis.HPSG is a non-transformational theory with a
constraint-based, lexicalist grammatical architecture.  Work within
the framework has focused on developing precisely formulated
grammars whose empirical predictions can be directly tested.  The
theory is therefore of particular interest to linguists who are
concerned with developing detailed accounts of the syntactic
structure of individual languages.  It is of special interest to
computational linguists as well, as it has been developed with
careful attention to ways in which analyses can be represented
within computational models of language processing.  The course will
proceed through close reading of Sag, Wasow, and Bender (2003)
Syntactic Theory: A Formal Introduction, a text in which an HPSG
model of syntactic structure is built up from first principles on
the basis of data drawn from a variety of languages.  While some
previous experience with the methods of linguistic analysis will be
helpful, no prior familiarity with syntactic theory will be
presupposed.  Work for the course will include weekly problem sets,
a midterm, and a final exam.