LING 301
HOMEWORK: SYNTAX ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
This assignment provides practice in identifying constituents, constructing sentence diagrams
using a tree structure, isolating embedded sentences, and describing phrase structures.
INSTRUCTIONS
Each exercise below provides specific instructions. Please read the instructions carefully and
answer each question completely. Answers should be given in the appropriate format for the
exercise: either type your answers to each question inside the table or text box provided, type
your answer below the question, underline or highlight your answers, or in the case of tree
diagrams you may also insert images of handwritten or drawn responses. The total point value
for this assignment is 70 points.
CONSTITUENCY TESTS
1. Apply the substitution (= pronominalization) test to determine which of the
bracketed sequences in the following sentences from constituents. Support your
answer by rewriting each sentence with the substitution. An example has been
provided for you.
Sentence Test Constituent?
(Yes or No)
[A girl in the office] talked
with the doctor and the nurse.
[She] talked with the doctor and the
nurse.
Yes
The girl with the big dog
jogged [in the park].
The girl with the big dog jogged [there]. Yes
The happy students read many
[books in the library].
The happy students read many [there]. Yes
The man ran [up the hill] and
became so tired.
The man ran [there] and became so tired. Yes
Jane will [leave town]. Jane will [do]. No
2. Apply the movement (= fronting) test to determine which of the bracketed
sequences in the following sentences form constituents. Support your answer by
rewriting each sentence with the bracketed sequence moved. An example has been
provided for you.
Sentence Test Constituent?
(Yes or No)
We ate our lunch [near the
river bank].
Near the river bank, we ate our lunch. Yes
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LING 301
The man at the desk looked
[up the number] in the
telephone book.
In the telephone book the man at the desk
looked up the number.
No
The [island has been] flooded. Flooded the island has been. No
I love [peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches].
Penut butter and Jelly sandwiches I love. Yes
The athlete worked [out the
problem].
Out the problem the athlete worked. No
3. Using one or more of the constituency tests (i.e. stand alone, move as a unit,
replacement by a pronoun) discussed in the chapter, determine which of the
bracketed portions in the sentences are constituents (and which are not). Provide
the grammatical category (NP, VP, etc.) of the constituents. (Textbook, Exercise 12)
Sentence Test(s) Constituent
? (Yes or
No)
Grammatical
Category
Martha found [a lovely
pillow] for the couch.
For the couch, Martha found a
lovely pillow.
Yes NP
The [light in this
room] is terrible.
The light here is terrible. Yes VP
I wonder [whether
Bonnie has finished
packing her books].
Whether Bonnie has finished
packing her books, I wonder.
No VP
Melissa slept [in her
class].
Melissa slept there. Yes NP
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREES
4. Draw two phrase structure trees to represent the two meanings for, or ways to
interpret this sentence:
The magician touched the child with the wand.
You don’t have to conform to the X-bar schema for this question.
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LING 301
(Hint: this is similar to an example in the text. Use the Insert / Line tool to draw
your diagrams. Or if necessary, hand draw the diagrams and insert photos into the
assignment.)(Textbook, Exercise 5)
Describe your interpretation of the meaning first, then draw the tree diagram.
Meaning #1:The magician used the wand to touch the child.
Diagram #1: S
NP VP
The magician
V
V NP
touched NP With the wand
the child
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LING 301
Describe your interpretation of the 2nd possible meaning, then draw your 2nd tree diagram.
Meaning #2:The magigian touched the child who had the wand.
Diagram #2:
EMBEDDED SENTENCES
5. In all languages, sentences can occur within sentences. Sometimes embedded
sentences appear slightly changed from their normal forms. Underline or highlight
the embedded sentences in the following items. (Textbook, Exercise 9)
Note: Underline in the non-English sentences, when given, not in the translations. An
example has been provided for you.
Yesterday I noticed my accountant repairing the toilet. (The embedded sentence is “my
accountant repairing the toilet. When in doubt, first identify the subject of the main
sentence, then the verb that accompanies it.)
a. It’s ridiculous that he washes his own Rolls-Royce.
b. The woman likes for the waiter to bring water when she sits down.
c. The person who answers this question will win $100.
d. The idea of Romeo marrying a 13-year-old is upsetting.
e. I gave my hat to the nurse who helped me cut my hair.
f. For your children to spend all your royalty payments on recreational drugs is a shame.
g. Give this fork to the person I’m getting the pie for.
h. khȃw chyȃ waǎ khruu maa. (Thai)
He believe that teacher come
He believes that the teacher is coming.
i. Je me demande quand il partira. (French)
I me ask when he will leave
I wonder when he’ll leave.
j. Jan zei dat Piet dit boek niet heft gelzen. (Dutch)
Jan said that Piet this book not has read
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LING 301
Jan said that Piet has not read this book.
PHRASE STRUCTURES
6. Tamil is a language spoken in India by upward of 70 million people. Following are
word-for-word translations of prepositional phrases from Tamil to English.
(Exercise 16)
Tamil English
The bed on “on the bed”
The village from “from the village”
a. Based on these data, is Tamil a head initial or a head final language?
Baded on this data Tamil is a Head final language.
b. What would the phrase structure tree for a Tamil prepositional phrase look like?
PP
NP P
TREE DIAGRAMS
7. Draw tree diagrams for the following sentences.
You may use a drawing software and import your drawing, hand draw and import
as an image, or insert lines and shapes here to complete your trees.
If you import images, make sure they are correctly oriented (upright) and easy to
read.
Space in between each sentence below as needed to insert your answer.
Hint: your text does not address diagramming conjunctions. Simply drop the
conjunction down between the two elements and label it “conj”.
a. Cats with long tails sauntered along the fence.
b. Patrick thinks that sugar gliders are excellent pets. (Treat ‘sugar gliders” as a single
noun)
c. We moved the desk through the door and into the hall.
d. All candidates attended the rally.
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