LSA.114 | Irish and the Theory of Syntax

James McCloskey
TR 1:00-2:40
location: 32-124

This course will examine the grammars of contemporary varieties of Irish. The empirical focus will be on three sub-systems: the structure of clauses (with particular reference to the voice system), the nominal system, and the system of unbounded dependencies. The methodology will be comparative, focusing on an attempt to locate the parameters of variation among varieties (regional and social). In terms of theory, the focus will be on the centrality of relatively simple concepts of command and locality which in interaction shape fairly complex arrays of fact.

Prerequisites: familiarity with recent work in syntactic theory, such as is provided by a typical first-year graduate introduction.