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Lexis and Grammar

Code: 105827
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics OB 2
English and Catalan Studies OB 2
Catalan and Spanish Studies OB 2

Contact lecturer

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

Group languages

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

Prerequisites

It is required for the students to have an excellent oral and written command of the Catalan language and it is also necessary for them to master the associated prescriptive grammar.
 
It is also important for the students to be acquainted with the contents of lexical morphology (word formation) and basic syntax, which were dealt with during the first-year subjects devoted to descriptive grammar.

Objectives

The subject of Lexis and Grammar consists of the study of the relations between the lexicon and the syntax of Catalan. This course is part of the set of compulsory subjects included in "Catalan language: synchrony and diachrony".
 
MAIN GOALS:
  • to be capable of analyzing basic syntactic structures
  • to be capable of relating the properties of the lexicon with the form of syntactic structures
  • to be capable of distinguishing which aspects of lexical meaning are relevant to grammar and which are not
  • to be capable of analyzing the syntactic and semantic properties of different types of predicates and argument structures
  • to be capable of analyzing the syntactic and semantic properties of idioms and other lexicalized expressions of Catalan
  • to be capable of analyzing the syntactic and semantic properties of word formation (derivation and compounding) of Catalan
  • to be capable of distinguishing, by using a lexical theory, which words are (im)possible

Learning outcomes

  1. Write text commentaries from a critical standpoint.
  2. Identify principal and secondary ideas and express them using correct language.
  3. Identify and describe the processes of inflection, derivation, composition and lexicalisation.
  4. Analyse the principles of lexical semantics that affect the internal structure of words and their syntactic combination.
  5. Describe the combinatory processes for creating linguistic units.
  6. Analyse linguistic structures.
  7. Analyse the most problematic phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic properties of the present-day language.
  8. Use technological resources (digital and audiovisual) to acquire knowledge and apply it in language and literature.
  9. Interpret texts in depth and provide standpoints from which to analyse them critically.
  10. Produce written work and oral presentations that are effective and framed in the appropriate register.
  11. Gain a greater capacity for reading, interpreting and critically analysing literary and linguistic texts.
  12. Make appropriate use of the knowledge acquired in order to collect data and handle documentary sources in the study of Catalan language and literature.
  13. Work self-sufficiently on the synchronic and diachronic study of Catalan language and literature.
  14. Respect the opinions, values, behaviour and customs of others.
  15. Distinguish between grammatical gender and natural gender.
  16. Identify the main and secondary ideas and express them with linguistic correctness.
  17. Properly apply the knowledge gained to data collection and management of documentary sources application to the study of Catalan language and literature.
  18. Work independently in the synchronic and diachronic study of Catalan language and literature.
  19. Produce written and oral texts with correction rules.
  20. Analyze properties phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic language that current problems arise.
  21. Apply the principles of correctness required in the standard language and the different registers and variants.
  22. Correctly identify linguistic units.
  23. Describe the process of creating combinatorial linguistic units.
  24. Analyze linguistic structures.
  25. Maintain an attitude of respect for the opinions, values, behaviors and practices of others.
  26. Identify the constituents of a word and the levels at which they operate.
  27. Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
  28. Strengthen the capacity of reading, interpretation and critical analysis of literary texts and language.
  29. Produce normatively correct written and oral texts.
  30. Analyse various types of linguistic data.
  31. Analyzing linguistic structures.
  32. Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
  33. Locate specialised and academic information and select this according to its relevance.
  34. Incorporate ideas and concepts from published sources into work, citing and referencing appropriately.

Contents

According to the set of subjects included in \"Catalan language: synchrony and diachrony\", the contents to be dealt with in the Lexis and Grammar subject are the following ones:

 

o Syntax as a projection from the lexicon

o Categorial selection and semantic selection

o Argument structure and types of predicates

o Lexical aspect and grammatical aspect

o Syntactic and semantic properties of derivation and compounding

 

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Discussion of texts from bibliography and resolution of exercises 19 0.76 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34
Classroom practice 17 0.68 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34
Study of lecture notes and bibliography 40 1.6 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, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34
Lectures 35 1.4 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34
There will be a combination of lectures with some exercises, discussion, and analyses of phenomena.

Students will find all information on the Virtual Campus: the description of the activities, teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject. In case of a change of teaching modality for health reasons, teachers will make readjustments in the schedule and methodologies.

NB: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree program, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

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
Lexical-grammatical analysis exercises 20% 17 0.68 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34
Other complementary activities 10% 3.5 0.14 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 25, 32, 33
Final exam 50% 1.5 0.06 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 30, 31
Essay on an article 20% 17 0.68 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

Continuous assessment will be based on the following activities:

(a) Final exam: 50%

(b) Lexicogrammatical analysis exercises: 20%

(c) Home written essay: 20%

(d) Other complementary activities: 10%



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


Non-continuous assessment will be based on the following activities:

(a) Final exam: 50%

(b) Lexicogrammatical analysis exercises: 25%

(c) Oral test: 25%.



On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

For the student to be able to do the re-assessment (\"recuperació\"), these two conditions are required: (i) having obtained an average overall grade equal to or higher than 3.5 and (ii) having being assessed wrt 2/3 parts of the subject. Activities (b), (c) and (d) of continuous assessment or activities (b) and (c) of non-continuous assessment are excluded from re-assessment. In the non-continuous assessment model,to be eligible for the retake, the student must have submitted all the assessment activities.

The minimum grade for one to be able to pass the course is 5 and a minimum of 4 must be obtained from each activity.

In case the student commits any irregularity that may lead to a significant change in the grade of an assessment act, this assessment act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be instructed. If there are several irregularities in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.

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. The non-transparency of AI use will be considered a lack of academic honesty and may lead to a penalty inthe grade of the activity, or greater sanctions in serious cases.

In case some tests or exams cannot be carried out on-site, these will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (e.g. Teams, i.a.). Original weighting will be maintained.

Bibliography

Bosque, Ignacio. (1989/20152). Las categorías gramaticales. Madrid: Síntesis.

Bosque, Ignacio and Javier Gutiérrez-Rexach (2009). Fundamentos de sintaxis formal. [chap. 5 “Léxico y sintaxis” & chap. 6 \"Sujetos y objetos\"]. Madrid: Akal.

De Miguel, Elena (ed.). (2009). Panorama de la lexicología. Barcelona: Ariel Letras.

Espinal, M.Teresa and Jaume Mateu (2005). “La llengua a les frases fetes”. Articles de Didàctica de la Llengua i de la Literatura 36: 20−31.

Ginebra,Jordi and Pere Navarro (2015). “Concurrències lèxiques en català i en espanyol: uns quants contrastos.” In À. Martín Escribà et al. (eds.). Actes del Setzè Col·loqui Internacional de Llengua i Literatura Catalanes. Universitat de Salamanca, 1–6 de juliol de 2012, vol. 2, pp. 217−228.  Barcelona: Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat.

Gràcia, Lluïsa (1994). Morfologia lèxica. L’herència de l’estructura argumental. Col·lecció Biblioteca Lingüística Catalana. Universitat de València.

Institut d’Estudis Catalans (2016). Gramàtica de la llengua catalana [chap. 13 \"Sintaxi: conceptes bàsics\"; chap. 21 \"La predicació verbal\"; chap. 22 \"La predicació no verbal\"]. Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans.

Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2018). Gramàtica essencial de la llengua catalana [https://geiec.iec.cat/]. Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans. 

Mateu, Jaume (2002). “Lexicologia II. L’estructura semàntica de les unitats lèxiques”. In M.Teresa Espinal (coord.). Semàntica. Del significat del mot al significat de l’oració, pp. 139-182. Barcelona: Ariel Lingüística.

Mateu, Jaume (2020). “Lexicalized Syntax: Phraseology\". In Joan A. Argenter and Jens Lüdtke (eds.). Manual of Catalan Linguistics. Berlin: De Gruyter. 

Morimoto, Yuko (20172). El aspecto léxico: delimitación. Madrid: Arco Libros.

Pustejovsky, James and Olga Batiukova (2019). The Lexicon. Series: Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rosselló, Joana (20082). “El SV: verb i arguments verbals”. In Joan Solà et al. (dir.). Gramàtica del català contemporani. Chap. 13, vol. 2. 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 first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed