Ling 222: syntax Flashcards
0
Q
Lexicon
A
List of words in a language
1
Q
Gloss
A
Literal translation of original language to english
Second line of linguistic examples
2
Q
Definitive article
A
Word meaning ‘the’
3
Q
Indefinite article
A
Word meaning ‘a’
4
Q
Dem. or demonstrative word
A
A ‘pointing’ word (that, this, these, those)
5
Q
Pl. or plural
A
Used before a plural word
6
Q
Hyphens (-) are used when in a gloss?
A
When a grammatical element is attached to a word or other grammatical element (can’t be a separate word)
7
Q
Affix and its two types
A
Something attached
Two types= suffix (attached to end of word) and prefix (attached to beginning of word)
8
Q
Morphosyntax
A
Morphology (study of word forms) + syntax
9
Q
Colon (:) used for what in glosses?
A
To demonstrate tense of an irregular verb
Ex: take:PAST for took
10
Q
Paradigms
A
Tables of verbs (grammatical category + lexical word)
11
Q
Promotion vs demotion
A
Promotion: making a word or phrase more prominent in a sentence
Demotion: the opposite
12
Q
Hierarchical structure
A
How words group together to form phrases, phrases group together to form larger phrases, etc
13
Q
Embedded sentences (recursion)
A
Where there’s a sentence inside another sentence
Ex: chris told lee [kim couldn’t swim]
14
Q
Asterisk (*)
A
Ungrammatical sentence
15
Q
Language universals
A
A property found in all languages
16
Q
Open class words
A
We can easily add new words to these classes
17
Q
Transitive verbs
A
Verbs that need a direct object (cannot exist without an object in front of it)
18
Q
Three linguistic criteria for identifying word classes
A
1- what different forms can the word have in distinct syntactic contexts? (Morphosyntax)
2- where is a phrase or sentence does the word occur and what words can modify it? (Distribution)
3- what work does the word perform in a phrase or sentence? (Function)
19
Q
Predicate
A
Expresses an ‘event’ in a sentence (this includes actual events like collapse/explode but also actions, processes, situations, states, etc)
Usually a verb but not always
20
Q
Three important subclasses of verbs
A
Intransitive verbs=verbs with one participant/argument (argument being the event or action which the verbs express; a single argument can be a phrase or more than one person)
Transitive verbs=verbs that require two arguments
Ditransitive verbs=their pattern is X verb Y for/to Z
21
Q
Ambitransitive verbs
A
Verbs that can be either transitive or intransitive
22
Q
Perfect vs progressive
A
Perfect= Kim has eaten his dinner (auxiliary verb + finished action) Progressive= Kim was eating his dinner (auxiliary verb + ongoing action)
23
Q
Modal auxiliaries
A
Display mood (could, should, would, could)
24
Subjunctive mood
Used for hypothetical events
25
Subject/verb agreement
Number, gender, etc
| Only third person singular in the present tense has obvious subject/verb agreement in English
26
Pronominal affixes
Morphological markers that can replace independent pronouns
27
Semantic role
The thematic role that the noun phrase fulfills
28
Types of semantic roles
```
Agent= animate being deliberately performing an action
Experiencer= animate being that experiences feelings of blank
Stimulus= the blank that makes the experiencer feel what they are feeling
Theme= moves from one person/location to another
Patient= physically affected by verbs action
Recipient= animate being
Goal= as in we sailed to the island with the island being the goal
Instrument= cause of the verbs action
```
29
Grammatical relations of NP
Define NPs in terms of their relationships with the verbs of which they are an argument
Most important grammatical relations are subject and (direct) object
30
Case-marking
This test is used for subject of a verb (or auxiliary) that is finite such as loves or tasted
Finite=bearing tense
Case means that the form of a noun phrase or a pronoun changes according to its grammatical relation
31
Nominative case forms
They can be used as a test for subjecthood in English
32
Three main properties of subjects in English
1- normal position is immediately before the verb
2- control subject/verb agreement. Verbs and auxiliaries in the present tense agree with the subject in person and number
3- pronominal subjects (subjects that are pronouns) have a special subject form known as nominative case. These subjects forms are I/we/he/she/they but it only occurs when the verb is auxiliary or finite
33
Count vs non-count nouns
Count: nouns that can be counted
| Non-count: mass nouns that can't be counted
34
Alienable vs inalienable
Inalienable nouns: terms for things you can't put aside or dispose of (body parts, family members, etc)
Alienable nouns: possessions, animals, food, etc
35
6 types of english determiners
Articles, demonstratives, wh-determiners, quantifiers, possessive determiners, pronouns
36
Two basic functions of adjectives and AP
Attributive- directly modify a noun/fixed position
| Predicative- work as predicates
37
Intensifiers (aka degree modifiers)
Very, too, quite, etc
38
Adjuncts
Optional modifying phrases such as next week, in a week, rather hurriedly, etc
39
Preposition
Used to mark locative and temporal information in a language
40
Clause
Sentence that contains one predicate
41
Predicate
Verb and connected info
42
Simple sentence
Contains just one predicate (thus just one clause)
43
Simple sentences that aren't attached to any other clauses are called...
Independent sentences/clauses
44
Typically, an independent clause must contain what type of verb
Finite verb
45
Finite verbs (english)
Express tense info (info about time of event)
46
How do you check if a verb is finite when it has no inflections (ending/conjugation)?
Check the distribution
47
If you find an independent clause with only one verb in it, it is most likely to be...
Finite
48
Pronominals
Person/number markers representing both subject and object
49
Auxiliary
Helping verb
50
Main verb typically has more what compared to an auxiliary verb?
Meaning (semantic content)
51
Ellipsis
Something left out of the sentence
| Ex: Kim hasn't read the book but he should
52
What 3 main concepts do modal auxiliary verbs reflect?
Permission
Necessity
Ability
53
Aspect
Verbs that express info as to whether the action of the main verb is completed or unfinished
54
Progressive
Unfinished or ongoing action
| Ex: been enjoying
55
Perfect
Refers to a completed event but which still has relevance to the time of the utterance
Ex: written, played, sung, have been
56
Three ways of expressing all the grammatical categories for verbs
1- via the verbal morphology itself
2- via an auxiliary
3- using an independent word
57
Non-finite verbs in English
Not marked for tense, person number agreement, aspect, or mood, etc
58
Infinitive and two distributional tests to confirm
Bare verb stem with no inflections
1- it's following a modal auxiliary or form of auxiliary (ex: must leave, could eat that cake)
2- following the infinitive marker to (ex: to err is human, we ought to be leaving)
59
Third person singular infinitive form verb test
See if you can get an -s present tense affix and if you can't, they're infinitives
60
Participles
- indo European: non-finite verbs that co occur with a finite auxiliary
- verb forms that can also be used in positions usually filled by adjectives or nouns (ex: the walking person, the believing priest)
61
Coordinating conjunctions
Words use to make complex sentences by stringing together simple sentences (but, and, by, etc)
62
Main/matrix vs subordinate clause
```
Main/matrix= contains main verb
Subordinate= embedded within matrix clause
```
63
For Mel to act so recklessly shocked everyone; that's an example of subordinate clauses fulfilling which role?
Causal (sentential) subjects= they're clauses but also meet requirement of matrix verbs to have a subject
64
Adverbial clauses
Optional subordinate clauses (not necessary to make sentence grammatical)
65
Root clause
Highest clause in a complex sentence
| Must contain finite verb
66
Usual way of asking yes/no questions in English
Subject/auxiliary inversion = subject of root clause switches places with a finite auxiliary
67
Which clauses in English can have root questions?
Root clauses only
68
Three major types of subordinate clauses
Complement clauses
Adjunct/adverbial clauses
Relative clauses
69
Verb serialization
Two finite verbs following one after the other (usually) in one clause, make up one complex event, must have same subject, only one marker of negation
70
What are the two alternative strategies to subordination?
Nominalization and serialization
71
Predicate of a clause is usually what kind of phrase
Verb phrase (can contain just a verb or a verb + dependants)
72
When a phrase has a dependant phrase that can't be omitted it's called a...
Complement
73
Three dependencies invv ing a relationship between a head and its dependants
1- heads select dependants of a particular word class
2- requiring the dependants to agree with diff grammatical features of the head (ex: gender in NPs)
3- government by a head
74
Word class of the head determines word class of the...
Entire phrase
75
Describe intransitive verbs
Take no complement
| May have an adjunct within the VP
76
Describe transitive verbs
Takes an NP complement (the direct object)
77
Ambitransitive
Often a verb can be transitive or intransitive (ex: lee left kim or lee left)
78
Complementizer
Word such as that/for/whether which introduces a clause
79
Optional vs obligatory phrases?
Optional- adjuncts, complements to adjectives/nouns
| Obligatory- complements to verbs/prepositions
80
Limited vs unlimited number of dependent phrases?
Head can have unlimited number of adjuncts
| Head selects limited number of complements (usually one, sometimes two-three)
81
Two properties of PP dependants
PP adjuncts have wide range of head prepositions
PP complements have specific head prepositions in each of their usages (ex: we glanced AT the clock, she sticks TO her diet, etc)
82
Syntactic relationships between heads and their dependants (4)
1- postposition/preposition -> object NP
2- verb -> arguments of the verb (ex: subject/object)
3- (possessed) noun -> possessor NP
4- noun -> adjective
83
Head-marking vs dependant-marking
Either head is marked with the things like the possessive -s suffix or the dependant is; therefore it's a characteristic that can distinguish languages
84
Cross-referencing
Heads such as verbs and nouns are marked to agree with grammatical properties of their arguments (number, person, gender, etc)
85
How do you spot a direct object?
Subject + verb -> what/whom??
Answer is the direct object
Can be a noun, pronoun, or phrase
Sentence won't make sense without it
86
How do you spot a direct object?
Look for the invisible preposition
Answers the question: to/for/from whom?
Sentence should still make sense without it
87
Copula
Word that links the subject and the predicate (such as is in the sky is blue)
88
Finite verb
Has direct relation with subject or noun
Usually main verb of a clause or sentence
Only present or past tense
89
Non-finite verb
Cannot be a main verb of a clause or sentence
Doesn't show gender tense mood
Includes gerunds, participles and infinitives
90
Subordination vs coordination
```
Subordination= independent + dependent clause
Coordination= independent + independent clause
```
91
Verbs and their arguments
There are phrases that are arguments of the main predicate and you have to mark the head (main noun)
Ex: (Wendy) will meet (the new governor) in the hall of the opera; with Wendy and governor being the heads
92
Head-marking vs dependant-marking
Head marking= John cheats
| Dependant marking= these houses
