LISSIM 6

June 1-15, 2012@ Kangra

Readings

Bobaljik:
Impossible Morphemes

This short course will focus on questions of linguistic universals, and in particular, explanations for apparent gaps in the inventory of possible/attested functional morphemes. A series of universals from the domain of comparatives and superlatives, with special emphasis on patterns of suppletion, will be the primary source of evidence.

Main reading:
Bobaljik (In press) - Universals in Comparative Morphology (2012, MIT Press)

Additional readings (related topics, side issues):

Bhatt 2012 Many or more: the Hindi-Urdu degree word zyaadaa and the analysis of Bare Comparatives. Ms. Amherst. (PDF)

Bobaljik 2008 Missing Persons: A Case study in Morphological Universals. The Linguistic Review, special theme issue Examples of Linguistic Universals 25.1-2:203-230.

Embick 2010 Localism vs Globalism in Morphology and Phonology. MIT Press. Chapters 2-3.

Wurmbrand 2012 QR and selection: Covert evidence for phasehood. Proceedings of NELS 42.

 

Pancheva:
Syntax-semantics class on comparatives and superlatives

(link to Reading)

Moltmann:
Minor Entities in the Semantics of Natural Language

[Most papers available from Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy site and Moltmann's site]

Part 1
Events, Tropes, States, Facts, and Situations: An Overview of their Linguistic and Philosophical Motivations
Reading:
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (online):
Casati/Varzi: ‘Events’, Mulligan/Correia: ‘Facts’, Kratzer: ‘Situations in Natural Language Semantics’, Bacon: ‘Tropes’

Part 2
Events, Tropes, and States, their Relation to Space and Time
Reading:
Maienborn, C. (2007): ‘On Davidsonian and Kimian States’. In I. Comorovski / K. von Heusinger (eds.): Existence: Semantics and Syntax. Springer, 107-130.

Part 3:
The Semantics and Ontology of Tropes
Reading:
Moltmann (2009): ‘Degree Structure as Trope Structure A Trope-Based Analysis of Comparative and Positive Adjectives’.Linguistics and Philosophy 32, 51-94.
------------( to appear): Abstract Objects and the Semantics of Natural Language, Chapter 2, Oxford UP (prepublication version on her website)

Part 4:
Variable Objects and Tropes with Intensional Bearers
Reading:
Moltmann(2012): ‘Intensional Relative Clauses and the Notion of a Variable Object’. Proceedings of the 18th Amsterdam Colloquium (2011).Springer.

Part 5:
The Semantics and Ontology of ‘Cases’
No reading

Part 6:
Existence Predicates and Minor Entities
Reading:
Moltmann (2011): ‘Existence Predicates’. In I. Reich et al. (ed.): Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung15 (2010), Saarland University Press, Saarbruecken, pp. 31-54.
 

Pesetsky
Case and Agreement

Part 1:  Dependent case as binding theory
 

Background reading:

• Pedagogical chapter on case by David Pesetsky & Esther Torrego

• Another pedagogical chapter on case by Jonathan Bobaljik & Susi Wurmbrand

• Marantz, Alec. 2000. Case and Licensing. In E. Reuland, ed. Arguments and Case: Explaining Burzio's Generalization. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

• Baker, Mark and Nadya Vinokurova. 2010. Two modalities of case assignment: case in Sakha

• Bobaljik, Jonathan. 2008. Where’s phi? Agreement as a post-syntactic operation. In Daniel Harbour, David Adger, and Susana Béjar eds. Phi-Theory: Phi features across interfaces and modules, Oxford University Press, 295-328.
  
   

Part 2: Case as categorial features

• Pesetsky, David. 2010, revised 2012.  Russian case morphology and the syntactic categories.
   

Part 3: Agreement and licensing

• Harley, Heidi, and Elizabeth Ritter. 2002. Person and number in pronouns: A feature-geometric analysis. Language. 78:482–526.

• Béjar, Susana, and Milan Rezac. 2009. Cyclic agree. Linguistic Inquiry. 40:35-73.

• Preminger, Omer. 2011. Agreement as a fallible operation. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [chapters 2 & 3]

For enquiries, write to secretary@fosssil.in

 

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