Linguistic grammar homework.

Please give yourself enough time to save and upload your work before the deadline. To be safe, plan on turning your exam in at least an hour before the deadline. If anything goes wrong with the Canvas upload, you may also email your completed exam to me – if you do so, please include “COMPLETED EXAM” in the subject line of your email.

Notes about rules: Use the phrase structure rules as they were at the end of Lobeck’s Chapter 13. If you change any rules for any reason, note what change you are proposing and explain why. More explanation is always good – you will get credit for your reasoning and demonstration of understanding.

Part 1 (25 pts)

(5 pts) Identify each phrase in the following sentence, then answer the questions below.

(1) The very small cat showed her toe beans to her friends, purring loudly.

(10 pts) For each phrase that you identified in (1), answer these questions:

i. Is this phrase a subject, a complement, or an adjunct.

ii. What is the head of the phrase?

iii. Does the phrase have any introducers? If so, what category are they?

iv. Does the phrase have a complement?

v. Does the phrase have an adjunct?

(10 pts) Choose one of the phrases that you identified in the sentence in (1). For that phrase, perform at least two diagnostic tests (movement, pronominalization, or coordination) to show that it is a constituent. Explain what test you used and why it shows that the phrase is a constituent.

Part 2 (20 pts)

(2 pts) Provide your own example sentence that includes a possessive NP and an embedded clause. Call this sentence (2)

(2) ________

(8 pts) Draw a tree diagram of sentence (2).

(10 pts) Answer the following questions about the example sentence you provided in (2):

i. What are all the functional categories and what are all the lexical categories of the words in your sentence?

ii. What is a finite verb in your sentence? Use one diagnostic to show that the verb is finite.

iii. In your sentence, is the embedded clause finite or non-finite? Use one diagnostic to support your answer. If the embedded clause is non-finite, what type of non-finite clause is it (to infinitive, bare infinitive, or participial)?

iv. What is the subject of the embedded clause? What is the predicate?

Part 3 (20 pts)

(2 pts) Provide an example sentence that includes at least one complement and at least one adjunct. Call this sentence (3)

(3) __________

(8 pts) Draw a tree diagram of sentence (3).

(10 pts) Answer the following questions about the example sentence you provided in (3).

i. What complement did you include? Use one diagnostic to show that it is a complement.

ii. If the complement you included is a complement of a verb, what type of complement is it? (E.g. direct object, subjective complement, etc….) If it is not a complement of a verb, identify what type of complement it is.

iii. What adjunct did you include? Use two diagnostics to show that it is an adjunct.

iv. For the adjunct that you identified above, what type of adjunct is it? Is it an adjunct to NP, VP, or S (or something else)?

Part 4 (20 pts)

(2 pts) Provide an example sentence that includes an overt AUX and at least one AdvP adjunct. Call this sentence (4).

(4) ___________

(8 pts) Draw a tree diagram of sentence (4).

(10 pts) Answer the following questions about the example sentence you provided in (4).

i. Use two diagnostics to identify the AUX in your sentence (4).

ii. What position is the AdvP in your sentence in (e.g. is it before or after the subject? Before or after the AUX?)

iii. What semantic category is your AdvP in?

iv. Based on your answers to ii and iii, is your AdvP more likely to be an adjunct to VP, or an adjunct to S? (Hint: your tree diagram should agree with your answer to these questions.)

Part 5 (15 pts)

(5 pts) Choose one syntactic category (e.g. nouns, verbs, etc) and answer the following questions:

i. Is this category lexical or functional? How can you tell?

ii. What inflectional morphology modifies this category in English? Provide an example.

iii. What derivational morphology creates words in this category in English? Provide an example.

iv. What semantic sub-categories exist in this category? Provide one example of each sub-category you identify.

(5 pts) In a few sentences, describe what the difference is between prescriptive grammatical rules and descriptive grammatical rules? How has this class changed your thinking about grammar and language?

(5 pts) In a few sentences, describe how you can use the diagnostics or terms you learned to apply your new knowledge of grammar towards your own study of language. Or, describe how you can apply your new knowledge of grammar towards other ways that you engage with language besides second-language learning.