Parameters in Morphosyntax

LECTURER: ÜMIT ATLAMAZ
August 19-23, 11.00-12.30, Room 3.103

This class explores linguistic variation from the perspective of parameters in morphosyntax. The course will offer an overview of the emergence, successes, and failures of the Parameter Theory in accounting for i) morphosyntactic variation across languages along with clustering effects, ii) language acquisition, and iii) language change. We will discuss the macroparametric views of Baker (2008) and the emergentist views such as Roberts (2019). Focusing on case related phenomena, we will discuss how a parametric theory coupled with some learning algorithms yields language change as a by product of language acquisition.