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2020/2021

Spanish Syntax: Complex Sentence

Code: 100584 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500248 Spanish Language and Literature OB 3 1
2501801 Catalan and Spanish OT 3 0
2501801 Catalan and Spanish OT 4 0
2501910 English and Spanish OT 3 0
2501910 English and Spanish OT 4 0
2504012 Spanish and Chinese Studies: Language, Literature and Culture OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Ángel J. Gallego Bartolomé
Email:
Angel.Gallego@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
Yes

Prerequisites

The students that course this matter have previously approved the credits corresponding to basic and obligatory matters, which guarantee that basic competences have been adequately adquired. Consequently, the students have to be able to speak and write with formal property. Orthographic and expression mistakes will imply the lowering in the final qualification.

The student who performs any irregularity (copy, plagiarism, identity theft...) that can lead to a significant variation of the qualification of an evaluation act, will be qualified with 0 this act of evaluation. In case there are several irregularities, the final grade of the subject will be 0.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This course takes part of the general matter Spanish language: synchrony, which is included in the 108 credits of compulsory matters that correspond to the degree on Spanish Language and Literature. Spanish syntax: the compound sentence is an advanced syntax course centered on the study of all kinds of syntactic structures whose analysis exceeds the limits of the simple sentence. Departing from a descriptive approach, the goal of the course is to provide the theoretical tools necessary to analyse and understand compound structures.

 

Competences

    Spanish Language and Literature
  • Describe the structure of the Spanish language, and distinguish the systematic and normative aspects.
  • Identify grammar component belonging to linguistic phenomena basic analysis of Spanish language (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary, semantics and discourse).
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Typological framing the main phenomena of the Spanish language and relate them to similar phenomena in other Romance languages.
    Catalan and Spanish
  • Analyze the main phenomena of Spanish linguistic variation (historical, geographical, social and pragmatic variation).
  • Describe the structure of the Spanish language, and distinguish the systematic and normative aspects.
  • Identify grammar component belonging to linguistic phenomena basic analysis of Spanish language (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary, semantics and discourse).
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Typological framing the main phenomena of the Spanish language and relate them to similar phenomena in other Romance languages.
    English and Spanish
  • Analyze the main phenomena of Spanish linguistic variation (historical, geographical, social and pragmatic variation).
  • Describe the structure of the Spanish language, and distinguish the systematic and normative aspects.
  • Identify grammar component belonging to linguistic phenomena basic analysis of Spanish language (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary, semantics and discourse).
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Typological framing the main phenomena of the Spanish language and relate them to similar phenomena in other Romance languages.
    Spanish and Chinese Studies: Language, Literature and Culture
  • Analyse the phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic properties of the Spanish language and the Mandarin Chinese language.
  • Describe the linguistic foundations on which the standards of Spanish and mandarin Chinese are based.
  • Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.
  • Recognise the factors of linguistic variation in Spanish from diachronic and synchronic viewpoints.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Use techniques for compilation, organisation and use of information and documentation with precision.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Accurately drawing up normative texts.
  2. Analyse Spanish linguistic structures.
  3. Analyse linguistic structures in Spanish.
  4. Analyse the relations between vocabulary and grammar.
  5. Analyse the structure of words from a morphological point of view.
  6. Analyzing Spanish linguistic structures.
  7. Carry out predictions and inferences abut the content of a text.
  8. Construct texts according to the established rules.
  9. Correctly identify linguistic units.
  10. Define the concepts of semantic and pragmatic competence.
  11. Describe and identify the phonetic and phonological system of the Spanish language.
  12. Distinguish geographic variation from the different levels of linguistic analysis.
  13. Identificar els errors normatius, estilístics o argumentatius d'un text.
  14. Identify errors of rules, style or argument in a text.
  15. Identify normative, stylistic and argumentative text errors.
  16. Identify pragmatic factors that influence the use of various linguistic structures.
  17. Identify situations in which a change or improvement is needed.
  18. Identify the paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations between different linguistic units.
  19. Identify the paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations between the various language units.
  20. Identify the pragmatic factors affecting the use of different linguistic structures.
  21. Identifying the regulatory, stylistic or argumentative errors of a text.
  22. Interpret the meaning of unknown words thanks to its context.
  23. Interpret the word from the different levels of linguistic analysis.
  24. Interpreting the meaning of unknown words thanks to its context.
  25. Make predictions and inferences about the content of a text.
  26. Making predictions and inferences about the content of a text.
  27. Summarise the characteristics of a written text in accordance with its communicative functions.
  28. Summarising characteristics of a written text according to its communicative purposes.
  29. Summarize characteristics of a written text according to its communicative purposes.
  30. Use digital tools for collecting, classifying, interpreting and analysing relevant data.
  31. Use suitable terminology when drawing up an academic text.
  32. Use the adequate terminology in the construction of an academic text.
  33. Use the necessary resources, both digital and non-digital (data bases, text repositories, dictionaries, reference works), for the analysis of any document, spoken or written, from a linguistic point of view.
  34. Using suitable terminology when drawing up an academic text.
  35. find out the meaning of unknown words in a text.

Content

1.    From the simple sentence to the compound sentence

The architecture of the sentence. The verb phrase (VP) and the predication. Verbal inflection: tense and agreement marking. The complementizer phrase (CP): subordination marks. Modality

2.     The compound sentence: general characterization

Co-ordination and subordination. The clasification of subordinate clauses: completive, relative and adverbial clauses. Subordinators and finiteness. Types of subordinators.

3.     Complement clauses

Complement clauses: general characterization and typology. The predicates that select complement clauses. The complementizers of complement clauses. The alternance between finite and non-finite verb forms. Indicative vs. subjuntive. Modality and complement clauses: indirect interrogatives and exclamatives. Quantified clauses.

4.     Relative clauses

Relative clauses: general characterization and typology. Relative pronouns and adverbs. Free relatives. Relationships between interrogative, exclamative and relative clauses.

5.     Adverbial clauses

Adverbial clauses: the traditional functionalist view. Adverbial subordinators. Absolute constructions. Types of adverbial clauses. The formal analysis of adverbial subordination.

Methodology

The main goal of grammar teaching is to empower the students capacity of syntactic analysis. In consequence, theory and practice are two inextricable aspects in the development of the matter. The course will include: 1) the descriptive and theoretical exposition of the syllabus contents, and 2) the practice of analysis, addressed to the enhancement of the student capacity of syntactic thinking. There will be an open space for problems discussion, the development of syntactic argumentation, the critical comment of the relevant literature and the completion of exercises (previously prepared by the students).

 

The calendar detailed with the content of the different sessions will be presented on the first day of class. It will be uploaded to the Virtual Campus, where students will also be able to access the detailed description of the exercises and practices, the various teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject.

 

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Directed activities 50.5 2.02 3, 5, 6, 2, 4, 1, 10, 11, 12, 26, 34, 30, 9, 13, 16, 20, 19, 18, 17, 23, 24, 28, 33
Type: Supervised      
Programmed Tutorials 15.5 0.62 1, 26, 34, 13, 24, 28
Type: Autonomous      
Individual work 75 3 1, 8, 26, 25, 34, 31, 32, 21, 13, 15, 14, 23, 24, 22, 35, 7, 28, 29, 27

Assessment

The final assessment of the course includes three components: a partial exam in the classroom (30%), done at the middle of the course; an individual coursework (30%), presented in december, and a final exam (40%), done in January, at the final of the course. All three activities are compulsory to pass the course. Any student lacking any assessment component will be qualified as "No evaluable". In order to pass the course it is necessary to obtain (a) as a minmum 5/10 in the weighted average of the three activities, and (b) as a minimum 4/10 in the average of the written exams. In the event that the last qualification is not reached, the student can take the re-evaluation exam. 

In the event that the tests cannot be done in person, their format will be adapted (maintaining their weighting) to the possibilities offered by the UAB’s virtual tools. Homework, activities and participation in class will be done through forums, wikis and / or discussions of exercises through Teams, ensuring that all students can access.

In the event that the student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an assessment act, this assessment act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be instructed. In the event of several irregularities in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.

 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Final exam 40% 2 0.08 3, 5, 6, 2, 4, 1, 10, 11, 12, 26, 34, 31, 32, 30, 9, 13, 16, 20, 19, 18, 17, 23, 24, 28, 33
Individual coursework 30% 5 0.2 6, 2, 1, 8, 12, 26, 25, 34, 31, 9, 21, 13, 15, 14, 19, 24, 22, 35, 7, 28, 29, 27
Partial exam 30% 2 0.08 6, 2, 1, 12, 26, 25, 34, 31, 9, 21, 13, 15, 16, 19, 23, 24, 22, 28, 29

Bibliography

General References

Bosque, I. (1989), (2015): Las categorías gramaticales. Relaciones y diferencias. Madrid, Síntesis.

──── (1994): Repaso de sintaxis tradicional. Ejercicios de autocomprobación. Madrid, Arco Libros.

Bosque, I & V. Demonte, eds. (1999): Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española, 3 vols. Madrid, Espasa Calpe.

Bosque, I. & J. Gutiérrez-Rexach (2009): Fundamentos de Sintaxis Formal. Madrid, Akal.

Brucart, J.M. & M.L. Hernanz (2016): “Las posiciones sintácticas”. En Á.J. Gallego, ed., Perspectivas de sintaxis formal, Madrid, Akal: 33-109.

Di Tullio, A. (2014): Manual de gramática del español. Nueva Edición. Buenos Aires, Waldhuter Editores. Accesible en https://www.scribd.com/doc/309930062/Di-Tullio-2014-Manual-de-Gramatica-Del-Espanol

Gutiérrez-Raxach, Javier (2016): Enciclopedia de lingüística hispánica, 2 volms., London, Routledge

Hernanz, M.L. & J.M. Brucart (1987): La sintaxis, I. Principios teóricos. La oración simple. Barcelona, Crítica.

Hualde, J.I., A. Olarrea & E. O’Rourke, eds. (2012): The Handbook of Hispanic Linguistics. Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell.

Moreno Cabrera, J.C. (1991): Curso universitario de lingüística general, 1. Teoría de la gramática y sintaxis general. Madrid, Síntesis.

Pavón Lucero, María Victoria (ed.) (2016): Las relaciones interoracionales en español, Berlin, De Gruyter.

RAE  (2010): Nueva gramática de la lengua española. Manual. Madrid, Espasa.

Rodríguez Ramalle, T.M.(2005): Manual de Sintaxis del Español. Madrid, Castalia.

──── (2015): Las relaciones sintácticas. Madrid, Síntesis.

Solà, J., M.R. Lloret, J. Mascaró & M. Pérez Saldanya, eds.(2002): Gramàtica del català contemporani, vols. 2 - 3: Sintaxi. Barcelona, Empúries.

Zagona, K. (2002): The Syntax of Spanish. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Trad. esp.: Sintaxis Generativa del español. Madrid, Visor, 2006.

 

Linguistic Databases

Corpus de Referencia del Español Actual [CREA]:  http://www.rae.es

Corpus del español del siglo XXI [CORPES XXI]: http://www.rae.es/recursos/banco-de-datos/corpes-xxi

Corpus del Español de M. Davies[CE]: http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/

DRAE: http://buscon.rae.es/drael/

Diccionario panhispánico de dudas: http://buscon.rae.es/dpdl/