Admission requirements
A solid introduction to syntax.
Description
Syntactic microvariation is variation between languages that differ only very little from each other, for example dialects. This course focuses on two questions: how can we analyse syntactic microvariation? And what does it tell us about the nature of language? We will consider theoretical approaches to microvariation (and their limits), and look at case studies to see how these approaches can be applied. Students finish the course by writing a paper on a microcomparative question of their choice.
Course objectives
Explain the relevance of microvariation for linguistic theory
Give an overview of some of the theoretical approaches to syntactic microvariation, and arguments for and against them
Find and use data from dialect atlases;
Describe and analyse a microsyntactic phenomenon
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Active participation: 20%
Paper presentation: 20%
Final paper: 60%
Resit
Students can do a resit for the final paper if the final course grade is lower than 5.5.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
TBD (journal articles available open access or in the Leiden University Library)
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office Reuvensplaats
Remarks
None.