Contrastive Linguistics

Pilar Prieto i Josep Quer

ICREA-UPF, ICREAUPF

Contact: [email protected]

[email protected]

Monday, 18:30 - 20:00, Room 52.113

Thursday, 16:30 - 17:30, Room 52.205

Dates: 28/09 - 10/12

Language: English

Brief description

This course focuses on the connection between language description, typological variation, and linguistic theory by approaching a series of

concrete language phenomena from the traditional grammar modules and their interfaces. One of the most important goals of linguistic

theory is to explain the range of variation attested across languages, which is not unlimited or random. In order to reach this goal it is

necessary to come up with accurate descriptions of individual languages that will allow us to compare them with the differring properties of

other languages. Linguistic typology, the study of language universals or parametric approaches from a Universal Grammar perspective

address this central issue with different analytical tools and theoretical assumptions, which we will try to grasp through the review of several

case studies with a strong crosslinguistic component.

Outline

The course will be organized around the following subjects

1. Introduction [M: 28-IX]

Setup of the course. Practical aspects and organizational issues.

Types of approaches to linguistic variation.

2. Phonetic and phonological processes: grounded phonology across languages [M: 5-X, T: 8-X]

After introducing some core concepts of phonetic and phonological analysis, we will review different types of phonological processes

across languages. We will explain the optimality theory account and the probabilistic accounts.

Pierrehumbert, J. (2001) Stochastic phonology. Glot International 5:6, 1-13.

http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~jbp/publications/publications.html

McCarthy, J. (2007). What Is Optimality Theory? Language and Linguistic Compass, 1-4, 260-291.

http://works.bepress.com/john_j_mccarthy

3. Prosodic phrasing and the interaction between prosody and syntax [M: 19-X]

Languages differ in how they group words into prosodic units. We will present the crosslinguistic variation described on this issue and

how syntax and prosodic structure interact in order to predict prosodic phrasing in a given language.

Prieto, P. (2005), "Syntactic and eurhythmic constraints on phrasing decisions in Catalan", Studia Linguistica 59 (2-3), special issue on

'Boundaries in Intonational Phonology', ed. by M. Horne & M. van Oostendorp), pp. 194-222.

http://prosodia.uab.cat/pilarprieto/

Speer, S.R., Schafer, A., & Warren, P. (2003). "Intonation and sentence processing. Invited panel presentation", Proceedings of the

International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Barcelona, pp. 95-105.

4. Comparative syntax and information structure topic and focus [M: 26-X, T: 29-X]

Languages vary as to how they encode information structure notions like topic and focus in their grammars. After introducing some core

notions of syntactic analysis, we will concentrate on the syntactic encoding of topic/focus categories across languages.

Vallduví, E. & E. Engdahl. 1996. The Linguistic Realization of Informational Packaging. Linguistics 34: 459-519.

Aboh, E. O. 2007. Leftward Focus versus Rigthward Focus: the Kwa-Bantu Conspiracy. SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics 15: 81-104.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/linguistics/research/workingpapers/volume-15/file37801.pdf

Büring, D. 2007. Intonation, semantics, and information structure. En The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Interfaces, eds. G. Ramchand

& C. Reiss, 444-473. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

http://semanticsarchive.net/Archive/GQ0YjgxM/buring.information.structure.v2005.pdf

5. Tonal grammars. Prosodic structure and information structure [M: 2-XI, T: 5-XI]

Languages have tonal grammars and differ as to how they encode intonational meaning. We will review experimental evidence from

different languages in which different types of tonal events express similar contrastive meanings. We will also review how information

structure is conveyed through prosodic structure in a variety of languages.

Gussenhoven, C. 2002. "Phonology of intonation". Glot International 6, 9-10; 271-284. http://www.let.ru.nl/gep/carlos/lipuqmul.pdf

Vanrell, M.M. (2006) "A scaling contrast in Majorcan Catalan interrogatives". Dins de: Hoffmann, R., Mixdorff, H. (Eds.), Proceedings of

Speech Prosody, Dresden, TUDpress Verlag der Wissenschaften GmbH, pp. 807-810.

http://optimitza.cat/mvanrell/

6. The role of non-manual features in sign language grammars [M: 9-XI, T: 12-XI]

In sign languages, non-manual features encode linguistic properties at different levels (lexicon, morphology, syntax, prosody). We will

concentrate on the crosslinguistic variation described so far for languages in the visual-gestural modality.

Pfau, R. & J. Quer. To appear. Nonmanuals: their grammatical and prosodic roles. In Cambridge Language Surveys: Sign Languages,

ed. D. Brentari. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://www.icrea.cat/Web/OtherSectionViewer.aspx?

key=546&titol=Publications&researcher=131

Dachkovsky, S. & W. Sandler. 2009. Visual Intonation in the Prosody of a Sign Language. Language and Speech 52(2/3): 287-314.

http://sandlersignlab.haifa.ac.il/pdf/Visua_Intonation.pdf

7. The acquisition of phonology: The role of prosody in language acquisition [M: 16-XI, T: 19-XI]

Early acquisition of phonetic and phonological features and processes indicates that prosodic information is crucial for early

bootstrapping. We will review longitudinal and experimental evidence from crosslinguistic variation in the acquisition of phonology and

the role of parameter setting, constraint ranking and frequency in early linguistic development.

Fikkert, Paula (2007). 'Acquiring phonology'. In: P. de Lacy (ed.), Handbook of phonological theory. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge

University Press. 537-554. http://www.fikkert.com/publications.htm

Demuth, K. 2007. The role of frequency in language acquisition. In Gülzow, I. & Gagarina, N. (Eds.), Frequency effects in language

acquisition. Studies on Language Acquisition (SOLA) series, pp. 383-388. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.

http://www.cog.brown.edu/~demuth/research_acqu.htm

Demuth, K. 2006. Crosslinguistic perspectives on the development of prosodic words. Guest Editor, Special Issue, <Language and

Speech 49 (2), 129-297. http://www.cog.brown.edu/~demuth/research_acqu.htm

8. Creole grammars. Language genesis and variation. [M: 23-XI, T: 26-XI]

"Young" languages have been claimed to share some core structural properties in the morphosyntax. Arguments and counterarguments

for this claim will be examined. A parallel thread on sign languages will place the discussion in the broader topic of language genesis and

the role of the innate language faculty.

MacWorther, J.H. 1998. Identifying the Creole Prototype: Vindicating a Typological Class. Language 74.4: 788-818.

Aboh, E.O. & U. Ansaldo. 2007. The role of typology in language creation: A descriptive take. In Deconstructing Creole. U. Ansaldo, S. M

Mathew, and L. Lim eds., 39-66. Amsterdam : John Benjamins.

9. Negative structures: syntactic and semantic variation [M: 30-XI, T: 3-XII]

Parameters in the expression of sentential negation have been extensively studied from typological and formal perspectives. The main

parameters will be inventarized, as well as the types of approaches that try to account for the variation we find.

Zanuttini, R. 2001. Sentential Negation. In The Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Theory, Mark Baltin and Chris Collins (eds.), 511-

535. Oxford: Blackwell.

Giannakidou, A. 2006. N-words and negative concord. In the Blackwell Companion to Syntax, edited by Martin Everaert and Henk van

Riemsdijk. Volume III: chapter 45. Oxford : Blackwell. http://home.uchicago.edu/~giannaki/

Déprez, V. 1999. The Roots of Negative Concord in French and French Based Creoles. In Language Creation and Language Change:

Creolization, Diachrony and Development , ed. Michel DeGraff, 375-428: Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~deprez/Roots.pdf

10. Interrogatives: crosslinguistic approaches to their syntax and intonation [M: 7-XII, T: 10-XII]

Interrogative sentences are an extremely rich domain in order to study how languages resort to different grammatical strategies for the

encoding of the same semanticopragmatic meaning of a question. Special attention will be devoted to the interplay among different

grammar components across languages.

Barbosa, P. 2001. On Inversion in Wh-Questions in Romance. In Subject Inversion in Romance and the Theory of Universal Grammar,

A. Hulk & J.-Y. Pollock (eds.), 20-59. New York: Oxford University Press.

http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/6462/1/Left%20Periphery.pdf

Prieto, Pilar i Gemma Rigau. 2007. "The Syntax-Prosody Interface: Catalan interrogative sentences headed by que". Journal of

Portuguese Linguistics, 6-2, 29-59. http://prosodia.uab.cat/atlesentonacio/recursos/index.html

Methodology

Each week we will focus on a given subject. The Monday classs will be devoted to a general presentation of the empirical and theoretical

aspects of the topic under study, and the Thursday class will consist of student presentations on a specific piece of work related to the topic

of the week and a group discussion on the bibliography papers (specific readings will be recommended).

Evaluation

The final grade will be based on the following. First, 30% of the grade will be based on continuous assessment of class participation and

assignments, plus a class presentation of an article related to the issues under discussion. The remaining 70% of the grade will be based

on a final exam that students will take home at the end of the quarter, for a period of 7-10 days. Alternatively, this 70% of the grade can be

achieved by working on a squib-like research essay that must be submitted by the end of the quarter. The work must be necessarily related

to the topics discussed during the course and will be carried out under the continuous supervision of one of the two teachers.

Basic Bibliography

Cinque, Guglielmo & Richard S. Kayne. 2005. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Syntax. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Freidin, Robert (ed.). 1991. Principles and parameters in comparative grammar. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.

Gussenhoven, C. 2004. The Phonology of Tone and Intonation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, ch. 4 and 5.

Haegeman, Liliane (ed.). 1997. The new comparative syntax. Londres: Longman.

Haspelmath, Martin / König, Ekkehard / Oesterreicher, Wulf / Raible, Wolfgang (eds.). 2001. Language Typology and Language Universals.

An International Handbook. 2 vols. Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter.

Mairal, Ricardo & Juana Gil (eds.). 2006. Linguistic universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kenstowicz, Michael J. (1994) Phonology in generative grammar. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.

Snyder, William (2007). Child Language. The Parametric Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.