LSA.233 | Topics in the Syntax and Semantics of Salish

Henry Davis and Lisa Matthewson
MW 1:00-2:40
location: 32-144
course web site: http://mv.ezproxy.com.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/Class/233

When Ken Hale was asked which languages differ the most from Indo-European, he cited the Coastal branch of the Salish family. In this course we examine some syntactic and semantic issues in Salish, relating to potential parametric differences between Salish and more familiar systems. Topics may include: Tense (or the lack of it), potential variation in aspectual classes, deep unaccusativity and argument structure, configurationality and the representation of agreement.

Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of syntax and semantics.