Universität Wien
Warning! The directory is not yet complete and will be amended until the beginning of the term.

160178 PS Morphological analysis (2024S)

6.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 16 - Musikwissenschaft und Sprachwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 40 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 07.03. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 14.03. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 21.03. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 11.04. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 18.04. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 25.04. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 02.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 16.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 23.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 06.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 13.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 20.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG
  • Thursday 27.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum 8 Sensengasse 3a 5.OG

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This course serves as a Master-level "Field Methods lite," where students are introduced to the analysis of raw linguistic data. Differing from a traditional field methods course, this course:
- focuses on morphological analysis of word forms
- explores a broad spectrum of languages, with a geographical focus on languages of the Americas
- encapsulates major concepts in linguistic typology on the analysis of complex verb forms

The course aims to equip students with two principal areas of knowledge and expertise:

1. Morphosyntactic Typology: This aims to offer a thorough insight into what the "median human language" looks like, familiarizing students with the typological range of different sets of morphosyntactic features expressed on the main verb in the clause.
- A set of fundamental concepts around argument structure, transitivity and valency: notably morphosyntactic transitivity, ergativity, person marking ("argument indexing"), and valency-changing operations.
- Well-known topics such as tense-aspect-mood (TAM), polarity, etc., which, despite being conceptually familiar to all, still present significant challenges in morphological analysis.

2. Theory and Practice of Morphological Analysis: This focuses on cultivating a deep and grounded understanding of how to analyze complex morphological structures, and fostering a sense of analytical elegance and parsimony ("The Occam's Razor").
- Revisiting the basics:
- identifying stem and affix variations
- analysis of surface "post-lexical" phonology and simple allomorphy
- determining morpheme order
- Analytical skills for recurrent non-canonical morphological patterns, including:
- inflectional classes
- fusional complexity at the stem level in a word-and-paradigm analysis
- root classes and stem formants

By focusing on verb forms across a diverse linguistic landscape, this course aims to deepen students' understanding of human language's core mechanisms and prepare them for practical work on raw linguistic data.

Assessment and permitted materials

attendance and participation (40%) and four in-class limited-book exams (60%).

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Attendance and Participation (40%)
Four In-Class Tests (60%):
- First three in-class tests: the scores of the two best tests will be considered, together accounting for 40% of the total grade.
- Final Test: The last in-class test is weighted at 20% to the total grade.

0-50% = negativ
51-64% = genügend
65-77% = befriedigend
78-89% = gut
90% und mehr = sehr gut

Examination topics

An ability to recognize, describe and analyse morphological and morphosyntactic patterns from raw linguistic data.

Reading list

Creissels, Denis (2016). "Transitivity, valency and voice." Porquerolles: European Summer School in Linguistic Typology, ms.
http://www.deniscreissels.fr/public/Creissels-ESSLT.pdf
ValPaL (The Valency Patterns Leipzig Online Database)
https://valpal.info/
Payne, T. E., & Payne, T. E. (1997). Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists. Cambridge University Press.

Association in the course directory

MA1-M3-4
MA4-WM1.1-1
MA4-WM1.3-1
MA4-WM1.4-1

Last modified: We 14.02.2024 10:26