English Syntax

Description

English Syntax questions to be answered A. Constituency (20pts) 1. For each underlined pair of words, apply at least three of the constituency tests: . Movement . Replacement . Fragment answer . Ellipsis/deletion For each pair, discuss whether it forms a constituent based on your results. (1) a. The elephant danced in the park. b. The monkey handed in the bananas. c. The turtle sat on the rock. d. The turtle picked on the zebra. Remember that constituency tests only work if the sentence you construct preserves the meaning of the original phrase! B. Tree-drawing and X-bar theory (25pts) 2. Give an example of a sentence with a subject, an object, a tense item, two adverbs and an adjective. 3. Draw a tree for your sentence, adhering to X-bar theory and the CP, DP, and TP hypotheses. C. Arguments and adjuncts (15pts) 4. For each underlined phrase, decide whether it is an argument or adjunct of the bolded head that precedes it, using the diagnostics that distinguish arguments and adjuncts: . Complements come before adjuncts . Adjuncts are repeatable, but arguments are not . Only arguments can be obligatory . Do so and one replacement must replace complements, but not necessarily adjuncts (see Ch. 6 of Carnie) (2) a. Monkeys are [AdjP fond of bananas]. b. I [VP talked to Sam]. c. The elephant grabbed a [NP picture of the lion]. You will need to construct additional examples that test the properties of the phrase. 2 D. Embedded clauses (20pts) 5. Provide an example of a sentence with an embedded clause, two prepositional phrases, and an adverb modified by another adverb. 6. Draw a tree for your sentence, adhering to X-bar theory and the CP, DP, and TP hypotheses. E. Adjuncts and the Principle of Modification (20pts) 7. Explain why (3) is ambiguous. Make reference to the Principle of Modification. You may find it useful to draw two trees, one for each meaning, although you do not need to. (3) I shot a man with a gun. 8. Explain why (4a–b) are not ambiguous. Make reference to the Principle of Modification. Draw a tree for each example, adhering to X-bar theory and the CP, DP, and TP hypotheses. (4) a. I shot a man quickly with a gun. b. I shot a man with a gun with a fake tan. This assessment is a mix of short answers and tree drawing and is worth 25% of your overall mark for the course. Important notes on your trees: . You are not allowed to abbreviate structure, so make sure you draw all the bar levels as well as the head of each phrase. . You should assume the CP Hypothesis, TP Hypothesis, and DP Hypothesis. . All your trees should be drawn in accordance with X-bar rules.Your trees can be handwritten and scanned