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2021/2022

Questions of Comparative Grammar

Code: 100688 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500245 English Studies OT 3 0
2500245 English Studies OT 4 0
2500248 Spanish Language and Literature OT 3 0
2500248 Spanish Language and Literature OT 4 0
2501801 Catalan and Spanish OT 3 0
2501801 Catalan and Spanish OT 4 0
2501902 English and Catalan OT 3 0
2501902 English and Catalan OT 4 0
2501907 English and Classics OT 3 0
2501907 English and Classics OT 4 0
2501910 English and Spanish OT 3 0
2501910 English and Spanish OT 4 0
2501913 English and French OT 3 0
2501913 English and French OT 4 0
2503998 Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics OT 4 0
2504211 Spanish Language and Literature OT 3 0
2504211 Spanish Language and Literature OT 4 0
2504212 English Studies OT 3 0
2504212 English Studies 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:
Jaume Mateu Fontanals
Email:
Jaume.Mateu@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

It is advisable that students can read texts on linguistics in English

Prerequisites

Students must be studying a degree related to language.

Objectives and Contextualisation

A selection of issues in comparative grammar will be made from the study of several languages (Romance and non-Romance; Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages) and some of the analyses that have been posited to account for them will be reviewed. Special attention will be paid to Catalan, Spanish, English, and Latin. Secondarily, it is also planned to deal with grammatical aspects of Italian, German, Russian, Greek (ancient and modern), Basque, Chinese, Japanese, i.a.

 

Competences

    English Studies
  • Analysing the lexical, phonetic, phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties of natural languages.
  • Applying the various analytical tools to different types of linguistic data.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • 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 must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Understanding the biological, cognitive and cultural foundations of human language and the main contemporary grammatical models.
    Spanish Language and Literature
  • Analysing the lexical, phonetic, phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties of natural languages.
  • Applying the various analytical tools to different types of linguistic data.
  • Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
  • 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 develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Understanding the biological, cognitive, and cultural foundations of human language and the main contemporary grammatical structures.
    Catalan and Spanish
  • Analysing the lexical, phonetic, phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties of natural languages.
  • Applying the various analytical tools to different types of linguistic data.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • 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 must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Understanding the biological, cognitive and cultural foundations of human language and the main contemporary grammatical models.
    English and Catalan
  • Analysing the lexical, phonetic, phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties of natural languages.
  • Applying the various analytical tools to different types of linguistic data.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • 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 must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Understanding the biological, cognitive and cultural foundations of human language and the main contemporary grammatical models.
    English and Classics
  • Analysing the lexical, phonetic, phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties of natural languages.
  • Applying the various analytical tools to different types of linguistic data.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • 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 must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Understanding the biological, cognitive and cultural foundations of human language and the main contemporary grammatical models.
    English and Spanish
  • Analysing the lexical, phonetic, phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties of natural languages.
  • Applying the various analytical tools to different types of linguistic data.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • 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 must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Understanding the biological, cognitive and cultural foundations of human language and the main contemporary grammatical models.
    English and French
  • Analysing the lexical, phonetic, phonological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties of natural languages.
  • Applying the various analytical tools to different types of linguistic data.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • 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 must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Understanding the biological, cognitive and cultural foundations of human language and the main contemporary grammatical models.
    Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics
  • Critically apply the different instruments of analysis to different types of linguistic data.
  • Critically read and interpret texts.
  • Demonstrate a mastery of the rules of the Catalan language, its linguistic bases and all its application in the academic and professional fields.
  • Display teamwork skills.
  • Identify the foundations of human language and the principles, methods and results of structural analysis of languages.
  • Produce written work and oral presentations that are effective and framed in the appropriate register.
  • 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 develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    Spanish Language and Literature
  • Carry out effective written work or oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in different languages.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams in order to achieve the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
  • Develop arguments applicable to the fields of Hispanic literature, literary theory, Spanish language and linguistics, and evaluate their academic relevance.
  • 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 must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Typologically identify the main phenomena of the Spanish language and relate them to similar phenomena in other languages.
    English Studies
  • Critically evaluate linguistic, literary and cultural production in English.
  • Describe and analyse—synchronically and comparatively—the main phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties of English and its historical development.
  • Distinguish and contrast the distinct paradigms and methodologies applied to the study of English.
  • Produce effective written work or oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in distinct languages (except English).
  • 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 must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Accurately drawing up normative texts.
  2. Analyse various types of linguistic data.
  3. Apply findings presented in specialist papers to the analysis of similar or related phenomena.
  4. Applying the results presented in specialised articles to the analysis of similar or related phenomena.
  5. Appropriately use the different available formal and technical resources.
  6. Appropriately using the different available formal and technical resources.
  7. Construct normatively correct texts.
  8. Establish typological generalisations.
  9. Establishing typological generalizations.
  10. Identify main and secondary ideas and express them with linguistic correctness.
  11. Identify principal and secondary ideas and express them using correct language.
  12. Identify the main and secondary ideas and express them with linguistic correctness.
  13. Identifying main and supporting ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
  14. Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
  15. Plan, organise and carry out work in a team.
  16. Produce normatively correct written and oral texts.
  17. Solve complex linguistic analysis at any level and with the appropriate tools.
  18. Solve problems autonomously.
  19. Solve problems of grammatical analysis.
  20. Solve problems self-sufficiently.
  21. Solving complex problems of linguistic analysis in any level with the appropriate tools.
  22. Solving problems autonomously.
  23. Solving problems of grammatical analysis.
  24. Summarise the knowledge acquired about the origin of the various fields within the discipline and the transformations they have undergone.
  25. Summarising acquired knowledge about the origin and transformations experienced in its several fields of study.
  26. Synthesise the knowledge acquired on the origin and transformations undergone by the different fields of study of the discipline.
  27. Use the different formal and technical resources available appropriately.
  28. Write text commentaries from a critical standpoint.

Content

1. Introduction. Comparative grammar in formal linguistics and functional linguistics. Parameters and linguistic variation in formal grammar

2. Selection of issues in comparative grammar:
2.1. The parametric variation involved in the typological distinction between verb-framed languages and satellite-framed languages. Phrasal verbs and resultative constructions
2.2. The syntactic expression of predication. Primary predication and secondary predication. Argument structure alternations 
2.3. Split intransitivity. The grammatical expression of unaccusativity. Unaccusative verbs and deponent verbs
2.4. Passive constructions. Verbal passives and adjectival passives. Participial structures. Absolute constructions
2.5. Word order and information structure. Discourse configurationality

Methodology

There will be a combination of lectures with some exercises, discussion, and analyses of phenomena.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures and discussion sessions 52 2.08 4, 1
Type: Supervised      
Programmed mentoring 15 0.6 4, 14, 12, 21, 17, 25
Type: Autonomous      
Autonomous work 70 2.8 4, 6, 5, 14, 13, 12, 22, 18

Assessment

The evaluation of the course will be based on the following actvities:

(a)  Attendance and active participation in class: 10%

(b) Delivery of two homework exercises: 30%

(c)  Delivery of an essay: 10%

(d)  Written test: 50%

The minimum grade for passing the course is 5.

In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives. 

Students have the right to resit or make up evaluated work provided they have submitted a minimum of two thirds of the formally assessed work which makes up the final grade and who have an average between 3.5 and 4.9 according to the evaluation criteria. The highest mark that can be obtained in this case is 5.

Activity (a) is of course excluded from resitting.

The dates of course activities and their revision will be announced through Moodle.

A mark of “no avaluable” (N/A Not Assessable) will be awarded if a student fails to hand in more than 25% of the assessed work used to calculate the final mark.

In cases of plagiarism, identity theft and others in an evaluation activity, a mark of ‘0’ will be given. If such a case is detected over more than one of the evaluable activities, the final mark of the course will be ‘0’. In these cases the student does not have the right to resitting or making up work.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Attendance and active participation in class 10% 1 0.04 2, 14, 13, 12, 15, 16, 21, 17, 19, 23
Delivery of exercise 1 15% 2 0.08 2, 4, 3, 1, 7, 8, 9, 6, 5, 14, 13, 12, 16, 21, 17, 19, 23, 22, 18, 20, 25, 24, 26
Delivery of exercise 2 15% 2 0.08 2, 4, 3, 1, 7, 8, 9, 6, 5, 14, 13, 12, 21, 17, 19, 23, 22, 18, 20, 25, 24, 26
Essay 10% 5 0.2 4, 3, 1, 7, 8, 9, 6, 5, 27, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 16, 28, 19, 25, 24, 26
Written test 50% 3 0.12 2, 4, 1, 7, 8, 9, 6, 16, 21, 17, 19, 23, 22, 18, 20, 25, 24, 26

Bibliography

Essential bibliographical references

Bosque, Ignacio & Violeta Demonte (dir.). (1999). Gramática descriptiva de la lengua española. Madrid: Espasa Calpe - RAE.

Huddleston, Rodney & Geoffrey K. Pullum (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Oniga, Renato (2014). Latin: A Linguistic Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Panhuis, Dirk (2006). Latin Grammar. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Solà, Joan et al. (dir.). (20082). Gramàtica del català contemporani, vols. 2 & 3. Barcelona: Empúries.

 

Selected bibliography

Acedo-Matellán, Víctor & Jaume Mateu (2013). “Satellite-framed Latin vs. verb-framed Romance: A syntactic approach”. Probus 25: 227-265.

Acedo Matellán, Víctor & Jaume Mateu (2015). “Parameters and argument structure I: motion predicates and resultatives”. In Antonio Fábregas, Jaume Mateu i Michael Putnam (eds.). Contemporary Linguistic Parameters. 99-122. New York: Bloomsbury.

Alexiadou, Artemis & Elena Anagnostopoulou (2008). “Structuring participles”. In C. B. Chang & H. J. Haynie (eds.). Proceedings of the 26th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, 33-41. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.

Bosque, Ignacio & Javier Gutiérrez-Rexach (2009). Fundamentos de sintaxis formal. Madrid: Akal.

Curell Gotor, Hortènsia & Ana Fernández Montraveta (2018). “Syntax. Major constructions”. In Juli Cebrian Puyuelo, Hortènsia Curell Gotor i Ana Fernández Montraveta. ContrastiveLinguistics. Servei de Publicacions de la UOC, Barcelona.

Demonte, Violeta (2016). “Parámetros y variación en la interfaz léxico-sintaxis”. In Ángel J. Gallego (ed.). Perspectivas de sintaxis formal. 391-425. Madrid: Akal. Available at:  http://www.lineas.cchs.csic.es/lycc/sites/lineas.cchs.csic.es.lycc/files/variacion_en_la_interfaz_lexico-final-.pdf

Fábregas, Antonio, Jaume Mateu & Michael Putnam (eds.). (2015). Contemporary Linguistic Parameters. New York: Bloomsbury.

Gallego, Ángel J. (2011). “Parameters”. En Cedric Boeckx (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Minimalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gallego, Ángel J. (ed.). (2016). Perspectivas de sintaxis formal. Madrid: Akal. 

Haspelmath, Martin (2008). “Parametric versus functional explanations of syntactic universals”.  In Theresa Biberauer (ed.). The Limits of Syntactic Variation. 75-107. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Previous version available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c4e7/c9087b6885afcfcad4c52a6a249fa8c589a2.pdf?_ga=2.122862156.633722610.1619032416-1317160974.1618497238

Haspelmath, Martin (2010). “Comparative concepts and descriptive categories in crosslinguistic studies”. Language 86(3): 663-687.

Mateu, Jaume (2005). “Arguing our way to the DOR on English resultatives”. Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 8: 55-82.

Mateu, Jaume & Gemma Rigau (2010). “Verb-particle constructions in Romance: a lexical-syntactic account”. Probus 22(2): 241-269. 

Picallo, Carme (ed.). (2015). Linguistic Variation in theMinimalist Framework. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.

Ramchand, Gillian C. (2013). “Argument structure and argument structure alternations”. In Marcel den Dikken (ed.). The Cambridge Handbook of Generative Syntax. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at https://gillianramchandblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/handbook20gs20ramchand.pdf

Roberts, Ian (ed.). (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Snyder, William (2001). “On the nature of syntactic variation: Evidence from complex predicates and complex word-formation”. Language 77: 324-342.

Villalba, Xavier (2019). El orden de palabras en contraste. Madrid: Arco Libros.

Wheeler, Max, Alan Yates & Nicolau Dols (1999). Catalan. A Comprehensive Grammar. London: Routledge. 

Software

None.