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Co-taught with AS.050.321. Building on AS.050.320, this course addresses and compares conceptions of syntactic theory that have emerged since the 1990s. Discussion focuses on both the substantive and formal properties of the fundamental principles of syntactic theory, as well as the cross-linguistic evidence that motivates them. In particular, we will contrast the Principles and Parameters view where syntactic theory relies on a set of inviolable principles whose form admits a certain amount of cross-linguistic variation, and the Optimality Theory view whereby constraints are invariant though violable, and cross-linguistic variation is determined by the relative importance of satisfying the various principles. When possible, connections will be made to other areas of linguistic inquiry such as processing, acquisition, and computation.