Topics in Syntax
| Title | Ζητήματα Σύνταξης / Topics in Syntax |
| Code | ΣΠΓ814 |
| Faculty | Philosophy |
| School | Philology |
| Cycle / Level | 2nd / Postgraduate |
| Teaching Period | Winter/Spring |
| Common | Yes |
| Status | Active |
| Course ID | 600024814 |
Programme of Study: P.M.S. THEŌRĪTIKĪS, ISTORIKĪS KAI SYGKRITIKĪS GLŌSSOLOGIAS
Registered students: 0
| Orientation | Attendance Type | Semester | Year | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SYGCΗRONES PROSEGGISEIS TĪS GLŌSSAS | Elective Courses belonging to the selected specialization | Winter/Spring | - | 10 |
| ISTORIKĪ GLŌSSOLOGIA KAI GLŌSSIKĪ EPAFĪ | Mandatory Elective Courses | Winter/Spring | - | 10 |
| Academic Year | 2025 – 2026 |
| Class Period | Winter |
| Faculty Instructors |
|
| Weekly Hours | 3 |
| Total Hours | 39 |
| Class ID | 600257034
|
Course Type 2021
Specialization / Direction
Mode of Delivery
- Face to face
Digital Course Content
- e-Study Guide https://qa.auth.gr/en/class/1/600257034
Language of Instruction
- Greek (Instruction, Examination)
- English (Examination)
Prerequisites
General Prerequisites
Familiarity with basic notions and methods of theoretical/formal syntax, especially of the generative paradigm: (a) immediate constituents and phrase structure representations, (b) basic notions of the Principles and Parameters framework, such as X-bar theory (and/or its descendants), theta-roles, Projection Principle, Case, (c) the notion of movement as the main transformational rule and familiarity with formal representations of movement. Ideally sudents must have already taken (and passed) an introductory syntax module.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to: (a) identify correlations between syntactic phenomena of Greek as well as other languages, through pattern recognition which they will have practiced throughout the semester, (b) evaluate theoretical proposals by detecting, differentiating, and explicitly expressing the predictions made by each regarding the same syntactic phenomenon, (c) formulate and test their own theoretical hypotheses by recognizing the predictions of a hypothesis and verifying or falsifying them, (d) discover new (morpho)syntactic phenomena with theoretical implications, and (e) channel theoretical knowledge into problem-solving.
General Competences
- Apply knowledge in practice
- Make decisions
- Work autonomously
- Work in teams
- Generate new research ideas
- Be critical and self-critical
- Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
The course is divided into two parts. The first part primarily includes lectures and exercises and aims to enhance the knowledge required to access specialized literature. Specifically, it covers what are considered common assumptions in current (minimalist) syntactic theory: contemporary versions of the Y-model, (recursive) Merge and copy theory of Movement/Internal Merge, formal features and Agree, Phase Theory, and Relativized Minimality. The second part is more seminar-like and consists of studying, presenting, discussing and critically evaluating recent influential studies on one of the following themes: (a) predicate structure and event structure, (b) A'-movements: island phenomena with particular reference to Greek, (c) syntactic change and variation, and the role of parametric change, (d) the syntax of noun phrases: determiner features, nominal complements, and modifiers. Based on the presented articles, relevant syntactic observations, contrasts, pairs and paradigms/datasets from Greek will be collected, as a basis for students' term papers.
Educational Material Types
- Notes
- Slide presentations
- Interactive excersises
- Book
Use of Information and Communication Technologies
Use of ICT
- Use of ICT in Course Teaching
- Use of ICT in Communication with Students
Description
Use of projectors for the presentation of slides and occasional short video lessons/lectures by invited speakers. Use of the 'e-learning' platform for communication with students, coordination, and sharing of educational material.
Course Organization
| Activities | Workload | ECTS | Individual | Teamwork | Erasmus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 39 | ||||
| Reading Assigment | 78 | ||||
| Project | 60 | ||||
| Written assigments | 70 | ||||
| Exams | 3 | ||||
| Total | 250 |
Student Assessment
Description
midterm exam: 25%, final essay or written exam: 75%
Student Assessment methods
- Written Exam with Short Answer Questions (Summative)
- Written Exam with Extended Answer Questions (Summative)
- Written Assignment (Summative)
- Performance / Staging (Summative)
- Written Exam with Problem Solving (Summative)
Bibliography
Course Bibliography (Eudoxus)
Θεοφανοπούλου-Κοντού, Δήμητρα (2002) Γενετική σύνταξη: το πρότυπο της κυβέρνησης και αναφορικής
δέσμευσης. Αθήνα: Εκδόσεις Καρδαμίτσα.
Παναγιωτίδης, Φοίβος (2023) Μεταξύ νόησης και φωνής. Εισαγωγή στη γλωσσική θεωρία. Αθήνα: Εκδόσεις Νήσος.
Additional bibliography for study
Barrie, Michael (2023) Advanced Generative Syntax. Available online: https://mikebarrie.com.
Haegeman, Liliane (2006) Thinking syntactically: a guide to argumentation and analysis. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing.
Hornstein, Norbert, Nuñes, Jairo & Grohmann, Kleanthes (2005) Understanding minimalism. Cambridge
University Press.
Roberts, Ian (2025) Continuing Syntax. Cambridge University Press.
Last Update
10-06-2025
