The main aim of the course is to introduce inflectional morphology and its interaction with syntax. First, an attempt will be made to distinguish it from derivational morphology. While derivational morphology is responsible for word formation, i.e. the formation of new lexical items, inflectional morphology deals with syntactically determined affixation processes. This can be seen from the behaviour of the contextual categories (dictated by syntax) such as those of person and number markers on Verbs or structural case markers on Nouns. On the other hand, the so-called inherent inflectional properties such as the plurality of Nouns, the gender of Nouns, the comparative and superlative markers of Adjectives, the Tense and Aspect markers, participles and infinitives, will also be scrutinized in this course, as will Agreement properties assigned to Nouns and Verbs, paradigmatic relations and inflectional paradigms.
