FORMAL ANALYSIS OF GERMAN

The general objective of the course:
This course aims at analyzing the main aspects of the fundamental syntactic structures of German, in order to help the students gain a deeper understanding of this language.
Knowledge and understanding:
the properties and the syntactic structure of the German language with focus on its morphological Case system and its implications for free word order and the factors that determine word order in the German middle field including pragmatic notions like focus and discourse status, definiteness and generosity as well as prosodic notions like the weight of a constituent;
applying knowledge and understanding:
discerning and describing syntactic constituents; carrying out a structural analysis nella teorie di Felder of specific sentences; applying analytic notions and the criteria of their application to specific cases; motivating and arguing for or against a specific (structural) analysis; explaining and applying syntactic notions to concrete examples; reading and understanding scientific texts and analyzing their argumentative structure;

a) competence in understanding the properties and the syntactic structure of the German language with focus on its morphological Case system and its implications for free word order and the factors that determine word order in the German middle field including pragmatic notions like focus and discourse status, definiteness and generosity as well as prosodic notions like the weight of a constituent;

b) competence in discerning and describing syntactic constituents; competence in carrying out a structural analysis of specific sentences; competence in applying analytic notions and the criteria of their application to specific cases; competence in motivating and arguing for or against a specific (structural) analysis; competence in explaining and applying syntactic notions to concrete examples; competence in reading and understanding scientific texts and analyzing their argumentative structure;

Good knowledge of the German language and basic notions in the following linguistic fields: phonology, morphology and syntax that have been acquired in the courses of lingua tedesca 1 and 2.

the case system of German and its implications for free word order; pragmatic and prosodic factors determining word order choices; the role of information structure and intonation in German

obligatory readings:
selected texts (from Uhmann, Selkirk, Gussenhoven, Cinque) that are made accessible for the students online

additional readings (optional):
Cardinaletti, A. e G. Giusti (1997), Problemi di sintassi tedesca, Unipress, Padova.

The verification of the successful acquisition of the various learning objectives is achieved by a final oral exam composed of questions that test whether the relevant notions are fully understood by the student and can be applied in an autonomous and communicative adequate way to specific examples

the course is divided in classical Llectures and practical exercises.

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