Midterm Review

Question 1

What do we call the format used in linguistics to present data in
other languages in which the middle line provides a lexical
translation or grammatical label for each morpheme?

Answer 1

Interlinear Morpheme Gloss

Question 1

What do we call languages that do not require free pronouns
(usually because the subject and/or object are indicated
morphologically on the verb)?

Answer 1

Pro-drop

Question 2

What do we call a sentence in which structural cues, lexical
ambiguity, or a combination of both mislead the reader or listener
into an incorrect syntactic interpretation until a disambiguating cue appears later in the sentence?

Answer 2

Garden-path

Question 3

What is a word class NOT found in English?

Answer 3

Classifiers and converbs

Question 4

The grammatical term iterative falls under what broad grammatical
category typically associated with verbs?

Answer 4

Aspect

Question 5

On which word class would you expect to find an equative affix?

Answer 5

adjective

Question 6

Name as many criteria as you can for determining the head of a
phrase/constituent.

Answer 6

Crucial semantic information
Same distribution as the phrase
Normally obligatory
May select dependents of a particular word class
May require that the dependents agree
May select specific case markings or adpositions

Question 7

Is the English noun phrase pink shoes head-initial or head-final?

Answer 7

Head-final

Question 8

Is the English possessive construction my car head-marking,
dependent-marking, double-marking, or zero-marking?

Answer 8

Dependent-marking

Question 9

Who is the linguist that inspired the generative/formalist approach
to studying language that has become the dominant theoretical
framework in the field of linguistics?

Answer 9

Noam Chompsky

Question 10

What is a good test for determining whether a clause is a root clause
in English?

Answer 10

Tag question
Subject auxiliary inversion
(Finiteness – can prove a clause is subordinate, but can’t prove a
clause is a root clause)

Question 11

How many clauses are in the following sentence?
If they come, they will want to decide whether or not she should join them before they leave.

Answer 11

5

Question 12

What do we call it in zero-marked constructions when we just put
two elements next to each other?

Answer 12

Juxtaposition

Question 13

What is the name given to the problem of how children learn
language seemingly without enough evidence?

Answer 13

Poverty of the stimulus

Question 14

What is the semantic role associated with an entity that receives
something?

Answer 14

Recipient

Question 15

What do we call verbs that can be both transitive or intransitive?

Answer 15

ambitransitive

Question 16

What word do we use to describe a linkage between two clauses
that involves a “linking” word?

Answer 16

syndetic

Question 17

What is another (roughly synonymous) name for the cognitive-
functional approach in linguistics

Answer 17

Usage-based

Question 18

Give me as many categories as you can think of that nouns typically
inflect for?

Answer 18

Number
Case
Definiteness
Possession
Gender/Noun class

Question 19

What do we call the use of adjectives in a noun phrase modifying a
noun (as opposed to being predicated, for example with a copula)?

Answer 19

Attributive

Question 20

What is the typical name for a nominally projected adjunct clause?

Answer 20

relative clause

Question 21

According to some analyses, what word class other than a verb can be intransitive?

Answer 21

Preposition

Question 22

What are the four types of nonfinite verb forms?

Answer 22

Infinitives
Participles
Converbs
Action nominals