Language and its Structure II: Syntax
Syntax forms the second part of MIT's Language and its Structure sequence, taught within the framework of Generative Grammar. The course works through core syntactic concepts such as phrase structure, constituency, movement, and the principles that govern how words combine into well-formed sentences across languages. Materials on MIT OpenCourseWare include lecture notes, problem sets built around data from English and other languages, and readings drawn from generative syntax literature, letting students test proposed rules against actual sentence judgments. The course assumes some background in linguistic analysis and builds toward the kind of formal argumentation used in professional syntactic theory. As with other MIT OpenCourseWare offerings, all materials are free to access, with no certificate offered. It suits students who want a structured, problem-set-driven introduction to syntactic theory rather than a general survey of linguistics.