Students

LING3383 – Morphosyntax of the World's Languages

2024 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor, Lecturer, tutor
Joe Blythe
joe.blythe@mq.edu.au
Contact via email
Room 514, 12 Second Way
By appointment
Felicity Cox
felicity.cox@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
50cp at 2000 level or above including 10cp of LING units at 2000 level
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit examines the internal structure of words, taking a typological perspective on the world's languages. It considers the interface between morphology, syntax and phonological structure. Alternative theories of word formation will be critically compared and contrasted, especially in the light of the typological diversity vs. uniformity revealed by the world's 7000 languages.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Critically analyse morphologically complex words from a range of typologically diverse languages.
  • ULO2: Compare and contrast word structures across language and language families.
  • ULO3: Develop levels of argumentation sufficient to explain synchronic morphological and morphophonological processes, as well as diachronic processes such as grammaticalization.
  • ULO4: Evaluate your analyses within the context of current debates on morphological theory.
  • ULO5: Communicate an understanding of how linguistic typology informs other fields of linguistics.
  • ULO6: Effectively communicate the importance of of morphological diversity for theoretical linguistics.

General Assessment Information

Late Submissions

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (OF THE TOTAL POSSIBLE MARK) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern.

For example:

Number of days (hours) late

Total Possible Marks

Deduction

Raw mark

Final mark

1 day (1-24 hours)

100

5

 75 70

2 days (24-48 hours)

100

 10 75 65

3 days (48-72 hours)

100

 15 75 60

7 days (144-168 hours)

100

 35 75 40

>7 days (>168 hours)

100

 - 75 0

For any late submissions of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Assignment 1 30% No Week 6
Assignment 2 30% No Week 9
Examination 40% No Week 13

Assignment 1

Assessment Type 1: Case study/analysis
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: Week 6
Weighting: 30%

 

Morphological problems sets

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Critically analyse morphologically complex words from a range of typologically diverse languages.
  • Compare and contrast word structures across language and language families.
  • Develop levels of argumentation sufficient to explain synchronic morphological and morphophonological processes, as well as diachronic processes such as grammaticalization.
  • Evaluate your analyses within the context of current debates on morphological theory.
  • Effectively communicate the importance of of morphological diversity for theoretical linguistics.

Assignment 2

Assessment Type 1: Case study/analysis
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: Week 9
Weighting: 30%

 

Morphological problems sets

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Critically analyse morphologically complex words from a range of typologically diverse languages.
  • Compare and contrast word structures across language and language families.
  • Develop levels of argumentation sufficient to explain synchronic morphological and morphophonological processes, as well as diachronic processes such as grammaticalization.
  • Evaluate your analyses within the context of current debates on morphological theory.
  • Communicate an understanding of how linguistic typology informs other fields of linguistics.

Examination

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 2 hours
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 40%

 

Examination

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Critically analyse morphologically complex words from a range of typologically diverse languages.
  • Compare and contrast word structures across language and language families.
  • Develop levels of argumentation sufficient to explain synchronic morphological and morphophonological processes, as well as diachronic processes such as grammaticalization.
  • Evaluate your analyses within the context of current debates on morphological theory.
  • Communicate an understanding of how linguistic typology informs other fields of linguistics.
  • Effectively communicate the importance of of morphological diversity for theoretical linguistics.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

There are three contact hours for this unit. The course is timetabled as a two hour 'lecture' (in 25WW, room A208) on Thursdays 9-11am plus a tutorial, also on Thursdays 12:00-1pm in  in 01CC room 203. Effectively, there will be three hours of moprhosyntax with a one our break. The reality is that we will mix up the delivery, spreading the content over the three hours. Some of it will be delivered like a lecture. Some of it will be more hands on, like a tutorial.

For the reading list see the iLearn site.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2024.02 of the Handbook