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Questions of Comparative Grammar

Code: 100688
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics OP 4
Spanish Language and Literature OP 3
Spanish Language and Literature OP 4
English Studies OP 3
English Studies OP 4
English and Catalan Studies OP 3
English and Catalan Studies OP 4
Catalan and Spanish Studies OP 3

Contact lecturer

Name :
Jaume Mateu Fontanals
Email :
jaume.mateu@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Francesc Josep Torres Tamarit

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

It is recommended that students be able to read bibliography in English. 

Objectives

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. 

 

Learning outcomes

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

Contents

In the first part of the course, the notion of the faculty of language and its relationship with linguistic variation are examined, with special attention to the sound systems of languages. The topics in comparative phonology covered in this course, syllable structure and the distribution of sonority in obstruent consonants, are framed within Optimality Theory, a formal model well suited to the study of linguistic variation.

The second part of the course analyses linguistic variation in relation to the lexicon-syntax interface. The two issues of comparative syntax addressed in this part are (i) split intransitivity and the unaccusative hypothesis and (ii) the syntactic variation involved in verb-framed languages ​​vs. satellite-framed languages. Both issues are analyzed from a syntactic perspective of argument structure.


FIRST PART (Dr Francesc Torres-Tamarit)

1. The faculty of language and linguistic variation

2. Introduction to phonological theory: representations and computation

3. Phonological universals

4. Optimality Theory: a window into the formal study of linguistic variation

5. OT-Help 2.0: a computational tool for research in Optimality Theory

6. Case study I: syllable structure from a comparative perspective

7. Case study II: the distribution of sonority in obstruent consonants from a comparative perspective.


SECOND PART (Dr Jaume Mateu-Fontanals)

8. Comparative grammar and linguistic variation at the lexicon-syntax interface

9. Split intransitivity and the unaccusative hypothesis. Two unaccusativity/unergativity diagnostics revisited: auxiliary selection and impersonal passivization

10. Syntactic variation and the verb-framed vs. satellite-framed language distinction


Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Programmed mentoring 15 0.6 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29
Lectures and discussion sessions 52 2.08 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29
Autonomous work 70 2.8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

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

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Essay 20% 5 0.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29
Comparative grammar exercises 30% 5 0.2 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29
Final exam 50% 3 0.12 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29

The continuous assessment of the course will be based on the following activities:

(a) comparative grammar exercises: 30%

(b) home written essay: 20%

(c) final exam: 50%


Erasmus and exchange students who request to advance an exam must present a document from their home university justifying their request.


At the time each assessment activity is carried out, the professor will inform students (Moodle) of the procedure and the date for grade review.


In the unique/non-continuous assessment modality, the assessment activities to be carried out on a single date by the end of the course will be the following ones:

(a) home written essay (20%)

(b) oral test (30%)

(c) final exam (50%)


To pass the course (both in the continuous assessment modality and in the unique/non-continuous assessment modality), it will be necessary to obtain a weighted average grade of 5 and obtain a 4 in each of the assessment activities.

To access resitting students must have been previously graded in a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to two thirds of the total mark and must have obtained a mark between 3.5 and 4.8. Only the final exam will be apt for resitting. A ‘No avaluable’ will be awarded if a student fails to hand in more than 30% of the assessed work.


In the case of the unique/non-continuous assessment modality, to be eligible for reassessment, students must have submitted all the scheduled assessment activities. The same reassessment system as for continuous assessment will apply.


In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed as an integral part of the development of the work, as long as the final result reflects a significant contribution of the student in the analysis and personal reflection. The student will have to clearly identify which parts have been generated with this technology, specify the tools used and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. Lack of transparency regarding the use of AI in this assessed activity will be considered academic dishonesty and will result in the activity being graded with a zero, without the possibility of reassessment, or in more serious sanctions in cases of greater severity.

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 (Teams, etc.).

In the event of committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

Bibliography

References


1st part

Adger, David. 2019. Language Unlimited. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (chap. 1: “Creating language”).

Bonet, Eulàlia & Lloret, Maria-Rosa. 1998. Fonologia catalana. Barcelona: Ariel. (chap. 1: “Introducció”).

Bonet, Eulàlia & Lloret, Maria-Rosa. In press. Els primitius de la fonologia. In Pons-Moll, Clàudia, Maria del Mar Vanrell & Francesc Torres-Tamarit (eds), La fonologia del català. València: Tirant lo Blanch.

Eguren, Luis & Fernández Soriano, Olga. 2004. Introducción a una sintaxis minimista. Madrid: Gredos. (chap. 1: “El órgano mental del lenguaje”).

Greenberg, Joseph H. 1963. Synchronic and Diachronic Universals in Phonology. Language 42: 508-517.

Jiménez, Jesús & Lloret, Maria-Rosa. In press. Conceptes bàsics en fonologia. In Pons-Moll, Clàudia, Maria del Mar Vanrell & Francesc Torres-Tamarit (eds), La fonologia del català. València: Tirant lo Blanch.

Lombardi, Linda. 1999. Positional faithfulness and voicing assimilation in Optimality Theory. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 17: 267-302.

Maddieson, Ian. 2013. Syllable Structure. In Dryer, Matthew S. & Martin Haspelmath (eds), WALS Online (v2020.4) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13950591 (accessible at: http://wals.info/chapter/12).

Pons-Moll, Clàudia i Torres-Tamarit, Francesc. In press. Nivells de representació i teoria de l'optimitat. In Pons-Moll, Clàudia, Maria del Mar Vanrell & Francesc Torres-Tamarit. La fonologia del català. València: Tirant lo Blanch.

Rigau, Gemma. 1998. La variació sintàctica: uniformitat en la diversitat. Caplletra 25: 63-82.

Staubs, Robert, Michael Becker, Christopher Potts, Patrick Pratt, John McCarthy & Joe Pater. 2010. OT-Help 2.0. Software package. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Torres-Tamarit, Francesc. In press. Optimality Theory. International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 3rd edition, Elsevier.

Torres-Tamarit, Francesc. In press. A Stratal Phonology of Catalan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (chap. 1: “Introduction”; chap. 2: “Constraint-based phonology”).

Web: https://brianwilliamsmith.github.io/teaching/401_7.html


2nd part

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. In Antonio Fábregas, Jaume Mateu & Michael Putnam (eds.). Contemporary Linguistic Parameters. 99-122. New York: Bloomsbury.

Baños, José Miguel. 2015. Dos tipos de intransitividad en latín: sintaxis y semántica. In Jesús de la Villa et al. (eds.). Ianua Classicorum, vol. 1. 637-668. Madrid: SEEC.

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

Keller, Frank & Antonella Sorace. 2003. Gradient Auxiliary Selection and Impersonal Passivization in German: An Experimental Investigation. Journal of Linguistics 39: 57-108.

Mateu, Jaume. 2015. La inacusativitat i la selecció de l'auxiliar en català antic. In Maria Rosa Lloret, Clàudia Pons-Moll & Eva Bosch-Roura (eds.). Clàssics d'ahir i d'avui en la gramàtica del català. 127-152. Barcelona: Publicacions de la Universitat de Barcelona.


Software

OT-Help 2.0: a computational tool for research in Optimality Theory

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed