Lesson 6: Syntax

Question 1

syntax

Answer 1

the study of how phrases and sentences are structured

Question 2

constituent

Answer 2

natural grouping of words within a sentence

Question 3

pronoun replacement test

Answer 3

a group of words can be replaced by a pronoun (her, him, it, there)
* noun phrase
* prepositional phrase

Question 4

do so/do too replacement test

Answer 4

a string can be replaced by “do so”/”did so” or “do too”/”did too”
* verb phrase

Question 5

stand alone test

Answer 5

a chunk of words that can stand on its own as an answer

Question 6

fronting test

movement test

Answer 6

moving a group of words to the beginning of a sentence

ex: “The girl ran in the rain.”
“In the rain, the girl ran.”

Question 7

clefting test

movement test

Answer 7

breaking up a sentence and feeding it into the formula:
“It is/was ____ that ____”

ex: “The girl ran in the rain.”
“It was the girl that ran in the rain.”

Question 8

S –> ____, ____

Answer 8

S –> NP, VP

Question 9

NP –> ____, ____

Answer 9

NP –> DET, N

Question 10

VP –> ____, ____
VP –> ____, ____

Answer 10

VP –> V, NP
VP –> VP, PP

Question 11

PP –> ____, ____

Answer 11

PP –> P, NP

Question 12

node

Answer 12

a labeled branch point with a syntactic category

Question 13

domination

Answer 13

every higher node dominates all nodes below it

Question 14

sisterhood

Answer 14

two categories that are directly under the same node are sisters

Question 15

head

Answer 15

of a phrase – determines its syntactic category

Question 16

complement

Answer 16

gives added information about the head (sisters to the head)

Question 17

Consider the following sentence and the phrase structure tree that would be used to represent it:

The French man mimed in the square dramatically.

A LING 1 student runs constituency tests on this sentence and reaches some conclusions. Which are correct?

A. There are three VPs in this sentence.
B. “in the square dramatically” is a constituent.
C. There is one NP in this sentence.
D. The string “in the square” is a constituent.
E. A and D are correct.
F. All of the above statements are correct.
G. None of the above statements is correct.

Answer 17

E. A and D are correct.

Question 18

Consider the following unambiguous sentence and the phrase structure tree that would be used to represent it:

The Wookie stole a comb.

Which of the following statements is true about the correct PS tree for this sentence?

A. The NP “a comb” is sister to VP.
B. The string “Wookie stole a comb” is a constituent.
C. “stole a comb” is a constituent.
D. “The Wookie stole” is a constituent.
E. A and B are true.
F. C and D are true.

Answer 18

C. “stole a comb” is a constituent.

Question 19

Which of the following statements is true about the constituency of this sentence?

The baker baked a cake.

A. The string “The baker” can undergo pronoun substitution.
B. “It’s a cake that the baker baked” shows that “a cake” can be clefted.
C. “baker” cannot undergo do-so substitution.
D. “baked a cake” can undergo do-so substitution.
E. B and D are correct.
F. All of the above statements are correct.
G. None of the above statements is correct.

Answer 19

F. All of the above statements are correct.

Question 20

Consider the following ambiguous sentence:

The artist depicted the man with pastels.

Consider only the interpretation where the artist has pastels and the phrase structure tree that corresponds to that specific interpretation.

Which statement describes the correct tree for this sentence?

A. The string “The artist depicted” is a constituent.
B. There are two VPs in the tree.
C. The PP is sister to a VP.
D. The string “the artist with pastels” is a constituent
E. B and C are correct.
F. B and D are correct.
G. All of the above statements above are correct.

Answer 20

E. B and C are correct.

Question 21

Consider the following ambiguous sentence:

The artist depicted the man with pastels.

Consider only the interpretation where the artist has pastels and the phrase structure tree that corresponds to that specific interpretation.

A LING 1 student ponders the results of constituency tests that she ran on this sentence. What conclusions can she reach?

A. “The artist did so” shows that “The man” is a constituent.
B. “The artist did so” shows that “depicted the man with pastels” is a VP constituent.
C. “The artist did so with pastels” shows that “with pastels” is a constituent.
D. “It’s pastels that that the artist depicted the man with” shows that “pastels” is not a constituent.
E. All of the statements are true.
F. All of the statements are false.

Answer 21

B. “The artist did so” shows that “depicted the man with pastels” is a VP constituent.

Question 22

Consider the following ambiguous sentence:

The artist depicted the man with pastels.

Consider only the interpretation where the man has pastels and the phrase structure tree that corresponds to that interpretation.

Which statement correctly describes the tree?

A. The string “The artist depicted” is a constituent.
B. There are two VPs in the tree.
C. The PP is sister to a VP.
D. The string “the man with pastels” is a constituent.
E. B and C are correct.
F. B and D are correct.
G. All of the above statements above are correct.
H. None of the above statements is correct.

Answer 22

D. The string “the man with pastels” is a constituent.

Question 23

Consider the following data come from Malagasy, an Austronesian language spoken in Madagascar.

Mandidy mofo amin’ny antsy Rakoto.

cut bread with knife Rakoto

“Rakoto cuts bread with the knife,” with the meaning of “Rakoto uses the knife to cut bread.”

Which PS rule(s) do you have evidence for in Malagasy?

A. VP → NP V VP
B. VP → VP PP
C. S → NP VP
D. VP → V PP
E. B and C
F. All of the above

Answer 23

B. VP → VP PP