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Descriptive and Prescriptive Grammar: From Clause to Utterance

Code: 105824
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics FB 1
English and Catalan Studies FB 1
Catalan and Spanish Studies FB 1

Contact lecturer

Name :
Cristina Real Puigdollers
Email :
cristina.real.puigdollers@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Xavier Villalba Nicolas
Gemma Repiso Puigdelliura
Jeroni Mas Fiol

Group languages

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

Prerequisites

None.

Objectives

Provide the student with a solid knowledge of the functioning of syntax of the Catalan sentence, both from a descriptive and normative point of view.

Learning outcomes

  1. Write text commentaries from a critical standpoint.
  2. Identify principal and secondary ideas and express them using correct language.
  3. Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  4. Analyse the syntactic structures of simple, complex, modalised and discursively marked clauses.
  5. Analyse the principles of lexical semantics that affect the internal structure of words and their syntactic combination.
  6. Match the known internal and external properties of the language to the different conditions of use.
  7. Correctly identify linguistic units.
  8. Describe the combinatory processes for creating linguistic units.
  9. Analyse linguistic structures.
  10. Produce normatively correct written and oral texts.
  11. Analyse the most problematic phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic properties of the present-day language.
  12. Apply the principles of correctness required in the standard language and the different registers and variants.
  13. Use technological resources (digital and audiovisual) to acquire knowledge and apply it in language and literature.
  14. Interpret texts in depth and provide standpoints from which to analyse them critically.
  15. Produce written work and oral presentations that are effective and framed in the appropriate register.
  16. Gain a greater capacity for reading, interpreting and critically analysing literary and linguistic texts.
  17. Make appropriate use of the knowledge acquired in order to collect data and handle documentary sources in the study of Catalan language and literature.
  18. Work self-sufficiently on the synchronic and diachronic study of Catalan language and literature.
  19. Respect the opinions, values, behaviour and customs of others.
  20. Plan, organise and carry out work in a team.
  21. Identify the origin of errors made by non-native speakers when using the language.
  22. Troubleshoot errors made by non-native speakers when using the language.
  23. Identify the main and secondary ideas and express them with linguistic correctness.
  24. Strengthen the capacity of reading, interpretation and critical analysis of literary texts and language.
  25. Properly apply the knowledge gained to data collection and management of documentary sources application to the study of Catalan language and literature.
  26. Work independently in the synchronic and diachronic study of Catalan language and literature.
  27. Produce written and oral texts with correction rules.
  28. Analyze properties phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic language that current problems arise.
  29. Distinguish the systematic from the normative aspects in the study of language.
  30. Describe the process of creating combinatorial linguistic units.
  31. Analyze linguistic structures.
  32. Identify the source of errors in the use of language by non-native speakers.
  33. Resolve errors in the use of language by non-native speakers.
  34. Maintain an attitude of respect for the opinions, values, behaviors and practices of others.
  35. Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
  36. Analyse various types of linguistic data.
  37. Identify the source of errors in the use of language to non-native speakers.
  38. Fix the errors in the use of language to non-native speakers.
  39. Analyzing linguistic structures.
  40. Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
  41. Locate specialised and academic information and select this according to its relevance.

Contents


  1. Descriptive and normative syntax

  2. Syntactic units and their structure

  3. The sentence


    1. Utterances, sentences and fragments

    2. Sentence structure

    3. Syntactic functions and positions in the structure

    4. Typology of predicates and sentences


  4. Sentential modality and information structure


 

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Exercises 10 0.4 4, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 26, 27, 30, 31
Reading 15 0.6 8, 18, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31
Lectures 39 1.56 1, 3, 4, 6, 11, 14, 17, 21, 29
Text discussion and problem analysis at class 15 0.6 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 17, 21, 26, 29
Essay 35 1.4 8, 13, 15, 21, 23, 25, 30, 31
Study 30 1.2 8, 15, 18, 24, 26, 27, 40, 41

Learning activities are organized as follows:

1) Directed activities (40%)

2) Supervised activities (30%)

3) Autonomous activities (30%)

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
Final written test 40% 2 0.08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41
Partial written test 30% 1.5 0.06 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41
Delivery of individual exercises 20% 2 0.08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39
Complementary activity 10% 0.5 0.02 4, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41

Continuous assessment

Assessment is continuous. Students must provide evidence of their progress through the completion of tasks and tests.

To pass the subject, students must obtain a minimum grade of 5 and pass at least one of the two exams (mid-term test or final test).

  1. Complementary activity through the Virtual Campus: 10%
  2. Submission of individual exercises (four short exercises completed in class, 5% each): 20%
  3. Mid-term written test: 30%
  4. Final written test: 40%

Exchange students who request to take an exam early must provide the lecturer with a written document from their home university justifying their request.

The detailed calendar with the content of the different sessions will be presented on the first day of class. It will also be posted on the Virtual Campus, where students will find the detailed description of the exercises and practical activities, the various teaching materials, and any information needed to follow the subject properly. In the event that tests cannot be taken on site, their format will be adapted (maintaining the same weighting) to the possibilities offered by the UAB's virtual tools. Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or exercise discussions via Teams, ensuring as far as possible that all students have access to them.

This subject does not allow a single assessment.

Plagiarism and irregularities

In the event of a student 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. Activities in which fraud or misuse of AI has been detected cannot be reassessed.

Use of Artificial Intelligence technologies

This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI 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.

Review

At the time of each assessment activity, the lecturer will inform students (via Moodle) of the procedure and date for the review of grades.

To be eligible for reassessment, students who have failed the subject must meet two conditions. First, they must have been previously assessed on a set of activities accounting for at least two thirds of the total grade for the subject or module; second, they must have obtained a weighted average grade of at least 3.5 across all assessed items. Only the mid-term test and the final written test may be reassessed, by means of a single test during the reassessment period.

The lecturer will inform students of the reassessment procedure through the Virtual Campus when the provisional final grades are published.

Students will obtain a "Not assessed/Not submitted" course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items.

Bibliography

Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. Gramàtica normativa valenciana. Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. Disponible en línia: http://www.avl.gva.es/gnv

Bosque, Ignacio i Javier Gutiérrez-Rexach. 2009. Fundamentos de sintaxis formal. Lingüística. Madrid: Akal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13398-014-0173-7.2.

Carnie, A. (2021). Syntax: A generative introduction. John Wiley & Sons.

Esteve, Francesc, Josepa Melià. 2016. Gramàtica zero. Universitat de València. Disponible per descarregar: https://www.uv.es/splweb/Documentos/gramatica_zero.pdf

Fortuny Andreu, Jordi. 2019. Elements de sintaxi generativa. Barcelona: Editorial UOC. https://lectura-unebook-es.are.uab.cat/viewer/9788491806011/1

Institut d’Estudis Catalans. 2016. Gramàtica de la llengua catalana. Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Disponible en línia: https://giec.iec.cat/inici

Nogué, Neus (2017): Les principals novetats de l’Ortografia catalana (2017) i de la Gramàtica de la llengua catalana (2016) de l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona: Santillana.

Pérez Saldanya, Manuel & Gemma Rigau. 2018. La Gramàtica de la llengua catalana de l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Llengua & Literatura 28. 227–236.

Rigau, Gemma. 2018. Norma i descripció gramatical. Barcelona: Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzLW156CycI

Solà, Joan, Maria Rosa Lloret, Joan Mascaró & Manuel Pérez Saldanya (eds.), Gramàtica del Català Contemporani. Barcelona: Empúries.

Software

None.

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 second semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan second semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 2 Catalan second semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 2 Catalan second semester morning-mixed