BMA-ANGD-A2 Linguistic theory

time & place

Mon 15:00–16:30, R423

value, type

5-credit lecture

frequency

the lecture series is offered in autumn terms only, the exam may be taken in any term

course instructors

members of DELG

attendance

not obligatory, but warmly recommended

description

This course consists of nine sets of lectures of between one or two sessions each. These lectures will be given by different members of the department and are based on the areas of their expertise and hence the course provides a wide range of both core and peripheral material within the field of Linguistics. The lectures strive to introduce and provide a detailed coverage of more specific topics than students of BA courses have so far been exposed to.

Introduction: notes and advice for the course
slides

The history of linguistics as a field
notes

The history of phrase structure as a linguistic notion
slides notes

The fortis fallacy
slides notes

Data and historical linguistics
notes

Morphology and morphophonology — (phonological) relations betweeen word forms
slides

An overview of English prosody: how different is it from Hungarian?
notes

Principles and Parameters in language acquisition and language change
slides notes

Typological studies with passive/antipassive as an example
slides

Principles and parameters syntax and minimalism
notes

downloads

Your mark is based on the result of a written examination. As for all examinations, you have to register for an exam session in Neptun.

The examination consists of 9 questions in total: one from each lecturer who has taught on the course. Obviously, their question will be based on the material relevant to their part of the course – their lectures and reading material.

The paper is split into 3 sections of three questions each (Kiss, Törkenczy and Szigetvári; den Dikken, Szécsényi and Burukina; and Newson, Lázár and Starčević). You will have to answer one question from each section — i.e. a total of three questions. You will have two hours to complete the exam.

The questions are all ‘essay’ type — i.e. NOT multiple choice. As you have two hours to write three answers, we are obviously not expecting the kind of essays that you would produce at home. You should strive to include in your answer the most relevant information and do not pad it out with irrelevant discussion or wordy introductions: be brief but to the point. However, do write legibly and understandably — ‘note format’ may be brief, but it is often difficult to decipher by anyone other than the author and if markers cannot understand what you have written, they will not be able to give you the marks you may deserve.