Proseminar Comparative Syntax Germanic vs Austronesian

-Comparative syntax necessarily involves work on more than one language, but it is not simply that. On the one hand, it attempts to characterize and delineate the parameters that ultimately underlie cross-linguistic differences in syntax. On the other, it attempts to exploit those differences as a new and often exciting source of evidence bearing on the characterization and delineation of the principles of Universal Grammar (UG), of the properties that, by virtue of holding of the (syntactic component of the) human language faculty, will be found to hold of every human language.”- Richard S. Kayne The course aims to provide insight into the analysis of (foreign) language structure and the contrastive approach on language universals. By means of analyzing (basic) Malagasy clause structure with the use of primary scientific literature, participants will acquire the terminology and methodology of cross-linguistic as well as generative syntactic work. The ultimate goal is to develop a contrastive model of the clause structure of Malagasy and Germanic languages with respect to several language phenomena and thereby gain awareness of the universality of language that underlies the superficial differences.Malagasy is the language of Madagascar. Spoken by around 18 million Malagasy people (Malagasy is both the name of the language and the inhabitants of Madagascar), Malagasy has its origins in Indonesia and most closely resembles Ma'anyan, a Malayo-Polynesian tongue spoken today in the Barito Valley of southern Borneo. Malagasy is spoken in Madagascar, Comoros and Mayotte. It is unrelated to the Germanic language family. FB 02 Institut für Anglistik / Amerikanistik To attend this course you should have successfully passed the ‘Orientierungskurs’. Previous knowledge in syntax is advantageous. Uni Kassel WiSe 2011/12 Anglistik/Englisch Anglistik/Englisch Benincasa Marco