1. Course Outline
Advanced Syntax

2. introduction In this course we will be:
Laying a more theoretical ground for understanding syntactic phenomena in English
Going back over areas we have already looked at
Specifically looking at ideas and material which we glossed over or completely ignored
Introducing some new areas

3. Theoretical Development
There will be three lectures which introduce theoretical apparatus which will help us to come to terms with the more complex aspects of English syntax
Lecture 1: Trace theory
What gets left behind when something moves
Lecture 2: Constraints
What prevents anything moving anywhere
Lecture 3: Case theory
Why can some DPs occupy some positions

4. Re-covering old ground: the VP
There will be three lectures in which we take a more detailed look at the structure of the VP
Lecture 4: Double objects and datives
Lecture 5: Prepositional and phrasal verbs
Lecture 6: Verbs with clausal complements

5. Re-covering old ground: the IP
There will be two lectures in which we look at some more complex issues in the structure of the basic clause:
Lecture 7: Tense and negation
Lecture 8: The position of Adverbs

6. News Stuff
There will be three lectures in which we introduce material that we have not yet covered:
Lecture 9: The gerund
Lecture 10: The front end of the clause
Lecture 11: Pronoun reference

7. Conclusion
In the final lecture we will introduce the notion of Universal Grammar and show how English is just one of the possible ways in which human language can be realised
We will also point out that all languages are related to each other and when looked at at the right level, they are not so different
Finally we will broach the question of how we learn language

8. Revision and Exam
In the final session we will revise the course and go through a number of sample exam questions so that you know what to expect