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Homework 1

The document provides exercises to test syntactic constituency through various tests like question formation, proform substitution, clefting, and coordination. The exercises involve determining constituents, building cleft sentences, forming pseudo-cleft sentences, and identifying structural ambiguities through proform and movement tests.

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28 views

Homework 1

The document provides exercises to test syntactic constituency through various tests like question formation, proform substitution, clefting, and coordination. The exercises involve determining constituents, building cleft sentences, forming pseudo-cleft sentences, and identifying structural ambiguities through proform and movement tests.

Uploaded by

alexandramazdrag5
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PORTFOLIO ASSIGNMENT 1

SYNTAX
Exercise 1. Decide whether the italicized strings in the following sentences are constituents
of those sentences or not (mark the ungrammatical constructions with an *). Note that (d) is
ambiguous, so you should identify the two interpretations and say on which interpretation the
italicized sequence forms a constituent.
(a) Roger considered visiting his old high school buddy. – is a constituent in the sentence.
(b) Julie blankly stared at the pedestrian she had just knocked over. – is a constituent in the
sentence.
(c) Julie blankly stared at the pedestrian she had just knocked over. – is not a constituent in
the sentence.
(d) Sam managed to touch the man with the umbrella. – this sentence is indeed ambiguous.
- one interpretation: „Sam managed to touch the man” and „with the umbrella” describes the
man.
- another interpretation: „Sam managed to touch” and „ the man with the umbrella” describes
who Sam touched.
- in the first interpretation, „with the umbrella” forms a constituent with „ the man”. In the
second interpretation, „ the man with the umbrella” forms a constituent together.

Exercise 2. Use the specified test(s) to determine whether the underlined words form a
constituent or not (remember to mark potential ungrammatical results with an *).
1. The cyclist without a helmet was lucky to get home safe. (Question, Proform, Cleft)

- Was the cyclist without a helmet lucky to get home safe? ( Question)
- He was lucky to get home safe. ( Proform)
- It was the cyclist without a helmet who was lucky to get home safe. ( Cleft)

2. Sandra handed Leah the blue stapler with a smile. (Question, Proform, Pseudo-Cleft)

- Did Sandra hand Leah the blue stapler with a smile? ( Question)
- She handed it with a smile. (Proform)
- What Sandra did was hand the blue stapler with a smile.” (Pseudo- cleft)
3. Professor Plum killed Miss Peacock with a butter knife. (Proform, Question)

- He killed her with a butter knife.” ( Proform)


-Did professor Plum kill Miss Peacock with a butter knife? ( Question)

4. Most people who own a dog appreciate the green spaces in Vancouver. (Cleft,
Proform, Pseudo-Cleft).

- It is the green spaces in Vancouver that most people who own a dog appreciate. ( Cleft)
- They appreciate them. ( Proform)
- What most people who own a dog appreciate the green spaces in Vancouver. ( Pseudo-
Cleft)
5. Dental floss can help with cleaning those hard-to-reach spaces between teeth. (Cleft)
- It is dental floss that can help with cleaning those hard-to-reach spaces between teeth.
(Cleft)

5. The rebels like to ride speeder bikes in the forest. (Coordination, Proform)

- The rebels like to ride speeder bikes in the forest, and they enjoy exploring the
terrain. ( Coordination)
- They like to ride them in the forest. ( Proform)

6. My silver droid will translate that language after he fixes my speeder. (Proform,
Pseudo-Cleft, Cleft)

- He will translate that language after he fixes it. (Proform)


-What my silver droid will do is translate that language after he fixes my speeder.
( Pseudo- Cleft)
-It is my silver droid who will translate that language after he fixes my speeder.
( Cleft)

8. The death star will blow up many planets. (Cleft, Pseudo-cleft)


- it is the Death Star that will blow up many planets. ( Cleft)
- What will blow up many planets is the Death Star. ( Pseudo-Cleft)

Exercise 3. Use the constituency tests (at least 2-3 for each constituent) we practiced to break
up the following sentences into syntactic constituents:
a. Sarah acquired new information about cognitive processes this semester in Spain.
b. A gifted prodigy went to Carnegie to study musicology.
c. Rufus cooked a three-course meal and loaded the dishwasher.

Exercise 4. Build up cleft sentences emphasizing the element in italics:


a- I met my wife in Paris. - It was in Paris that I met my wife.
b- We were married in September. – It was in September that we were married.
c- Bruno reported us to the police. - It was Bruno who reported us to the police.
d - The manager himself wants to speak to you. – It is the manager himself who wants to
speak to you.
e - Benidorm is a nice place for a holiday, but I'm going to Marbella this summer. – It’s
Marbella that I’m going to this summer, not Benidorm, which is a nice place for a holiday.
f - My left leg hurts, not the right one. – It’s my left leg that hurts, not the right one.

Exercise 5. Turn the following sentences into pseudo-cleft sentences, headed by the word in
brackets:
a - You need a good cup of tea (what) – What you need is a good cup of tea.
b - I'll write a letter to The Times (what) – What I’ll do is write a letter to The Times.
c - I liked her performance best (what) – What I liked best was her performance.
d - I only drank a couple of pints with my colleagues. (all) – All I did was drink a couple of
pints with my colleagues.

Exercise 6. Each sentence below has two possible meanings because each sentence is
structurally ambiguous.
1. Gemma unpacked the package for Johnny. – Proform test: “ She unpacked it for him.”
– the package is a noun phrase.
2. Jason pushed the tennis ball under the sofa. – Proform test : “He pushed it under
there.” – “ the tennis ball” is a noun phrase.
3. I escorted the guest from Chicago. – Proform test : “ I escorted him from there.” – “
the guest “ is a noun prahse.
(a) Use the proform test to discover where the noun phrases are. Different versions of
each sentence should give you different results.
(b) Use the movement test to do the same thing. For each sentence you should find
that there are two possible ways of using movement to disambiguate (aka remove the
ambiguity).

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