LIN331 – Syntactic Theory

Below are lecture notes for the course I taught on Minimalist syntactic theory at the University of Toronto. The version of the course I taught used Understanding Minimalism by Hornstein et al (2005), and these notes follow that book closely. The notes here are for the summer version of the course, taught in 2018.

These notes are the result of teaching Hornstein et al's textbook are offered as a supplementary resource for study and educational purposes. As a disclaimer, please note that these interpretations may not be fully accurate or may deviate from their intended import. There may be mistakes for which I am responsible, and there are definitely typos; they are offered as-is.

Lecture notes

• Syllabus
• 1 – The Minimalist project
• 2 – Deep and surface structure
• 3 – Theta-role assignment and vP shells
• 4 – Case configurations, PRO, and object movement
• 5 – Minimality and the end of Agr
• 6 – The system and a derivation
• 7 – Bare phrase structure
• 8 – The Linear Correspondence Axiom
• 9 – The binding principles
• 10 – Features, checking, and Agree
• 11 – Economy
• 12 – A summary of the theory