24.951: Introduction to Syntax
This graduate-level class is concerned with the concepts and principles that have been of central significance in the recent development of syntactic theory.
We will begin by developing a particular architecture for thinking about syntactic phenomena: based on the operation "Merge". We then turn to a variety of topics that put this simple idea to the test. We will also touch occasionally on the interaction of syntactic processes with semantics and phonology.
The Spring semester continuation of this class (24.952) will build on this semester's material, focusing more intensively than this semester on so-called Ā ("A-bar") phenomena.