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The topic of this course is constraint-based grammar. In constraint-based grammar formalisms, phrase-structure rules are no longer regarded as rules for the production of the well-formed sentences of a language, but as constraints on well-formed linguistic structures. Furthermore, the rules are augmented with feature structures (pairs of attributes and their values, e.g., "singular" and "plural" for number). These two moves yield a very powerful and flexible formalism, which allows a succinct representation of even complex linguistic facts.
Constraint-based grammar formalisms play an important role not only in linguistic theorising but also in Natural Language Processing (NLP). They are the basis of many large-coverage grammars that are used in NLP systems.
The course will be based on the textbook "Syntactic theory" by Ivan Sag et al. (2003, 2nd ed.). The book is made available via the print shop in the usual fashion. Familiarity with phrase-structure grammar is presupposed, otherwise, the course will take into account the previous knowledge of the participants. |
