CJJ21 Approaches to Morphosyntax

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Anne-Li Demonie, MA (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Caha, Ph.D. (alternate examiner)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Pavel Caha, Ph.D.
Department of Czech Language – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Bc. Silvie Hulewicz, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of Czech Language – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
English, knowledge of (basic) linguistic terminology, a prior course in syntax and/or morphology is an advantage.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 15 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim of this course is to introduce and familiarise the students with the main tenets and analytical tools used in Nanosyntax, a current theory of morphosyntax, which tries to explain the general rules of interaction between morphemes (ordering, allomorphy) as well as relations between form and meaning (agglutination, fusion, etc.). While some theoretical notions are essential to this course, the primary focus will be on empirical data and learning how to make sense of such data using this theory.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the student is able to:
- analyse the distribution of markers in paradigms;
- generate simple paradigms using rules of exponence and their interaction;
- understand notions such as the Superset Principle and the lexicalisation algorithm, and use them in order to model and derive the interaction of exponents;
- analyse the structure of words using head movement and phrasal movement;
Syllabus
  • intro to nanosyntax;
  • morphosyntactic theory and its application;
  • (cross)-linguistic paradigms;
  • phrasal lexicalisation;
  • independent analysis;
Literature
  • Caha, Pavel, Karen De Clercq, Michal Starke & Guido Vanden Wyngaerd. 2024. Nanosyntax: state of the art and recent developments. In Nanosyntax and the lexicalisation algorithm, Pavel Caha, Karen De Clercq & Guido Vanden Wyngaerd (eds.), 1–54.
  • Baunaz, Lena & Eric Lander. 2018. Nanosyntax: the basics. In: Baunaz, Lena; De Clercq, Karen; Haegeman, Liliane; Lander, Eric. Exploring Nanosyntax. New York: Oxford University Press, 3-56.
Teaching methods
Lecture, discussion.
Assessment methods
In order to receive credits for this course, the students will be required to prepare and give 3 small presentations (5-10 min) on an assigned topic throughout the semester, and 1 bigger presentation (15-20 min) at the end of the semester.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/CJJ21