Syntax

Question 1

Syntax

Answer 1

a computational system for generating sentences

Question 2

Determiners

Answer 2

precede nouns, specify properties like quantity and proximity, closed class of words (ex. the, a some, every)

Question 3

Nouns

Answer 3

can follow a determiner, can be modified by an adjective, can be replaced by a pronoun

Question 4

Verbs

Answer 4

have a past tense form, can combine with auxiliary verbs, can take an object

Question 5

Adjectives

Answer 5

can modify nouns, can occur between a determiner and a noun, may have comparative and superlative forms

Question 6

Adverbs

Answer 6

modify anything by nouns, often end in -ly, can appear between the subject and an auxiliary verb

Question 7

Complex base

Answer 7

might consist of a root plus an affix

Question 8

What happens sometimes when we add an affix to a base?

Answer 8

word changes lexical category

Question 9

Prepositions

Answer 9

can be modified by ‘right’, can take an object, closed class (ex. in, on, under, with)

Question 10

Auxiliary verbs

Answer 10

close class (can, could, might, am, are, have, has)

Question 11

Noun compounds

Answer 11

often the part of the compound of the right determines the category of the compound

Question 12

Syntactic grammaticality judgments

Answer 12

there are constraints on word order, verbs, and groups of words

Question 13

Intuitive patterns

Answer 13

certain words seem to cluster together

Question 14

Constituents

Answer 14

a word or group of words that function together as a unit, generally nested (i.e. hierarchical)

Question 15

Merge

Answer 15

a fundamental syntactic operation that combines two constituents to form a single new constituent

Question 16

Two important properties of phrases (XPs)

Answer 16

1) every phrase has a head: the most important part of the phrase, which generally cannot be left out, and 2) the category of the head determines the properties of the phrase: all categories (heads) project to a phrase

Question 17

Projection

Answer 17

all words of category X project to a phrase XP

Question 18

Constituency test

Answer 18

methods for isolating constituents and determining their identity

Question 19

Coordination test

Answer 19

constituents of the same category can be coordinated with a conjunction like ‘and’ or ‘or’

Question 20

Movement test

Answer 20

constituents can be moved around within a sentence

Question 21

Substitution test

Answer 21

a group of adjacent words that can be substituted by a single word while preserving the meaning of a phrase

Question 22

Crucially, all sentences need ________.

Answer 22

tense

Question 23

Auxiliary verbs and PAST/PRES cannot _______.

Answer 23

co-occur

Question 24

PAST and PRES

Answer 24

unpronounced tense words that ultimately get realized as morphemes on the main verb

Question 25

Complement

Answer 25

the phrase which merges with (and is sister to) the head

Question 26

In English, the complement merges to the ______ of the head.

Answer 26

right

Question 27

Adjuncts

Answer 27

a (non-essential) phrase YP which is merged with another full phrase XP to produce an XP overall

Question 28

An Adjunct relationship is characterized as a phrase whose _______ is the same as its _______.

Answer 28

sister, mother

Question 29

Specifier

Answer 29

the phrase which merges with (and is sister to) an X'

Question 30

Intransitive verb

Answer 30

verbs that only require a subject; structurally, they are represented by a verb which immediately projects to a VP

Question 31

Transitive verbs

Answer 31

need two arguments - a subject and an object

Question 32

Embedded clauses

Answer 32

a sentence that is embedded inside of another sentence

Question 33

Complementizers

Answer 33

words that allow for embedded clauses (ex. that, for, if)

Question 34

Zero complementizer (/) change in frequency from Late Middle English (1350) to Early Modern English (1710)

Answer 34

Increased

Question 35

Trace

Answer 35

an unpronounced component that if left behind when a syntactic element moves out of its position to a new position; marked with angle brackets and struck out

Question 36

Some syntactic elements may be deleted or are unpronounced ('null') e.g.:

Answer 36

null determiners (proper names and simple nouns), null ('zero') complementizers, moved elements

Question 37

Questioning test

Answer 37

the WH-word targets a specific constituent

Question 38

Other examples of movement

Answer 38

Direct object ('topicalization') in English, verb movement in German

Question 39

Children aged about 2.5 - 5.5 years old produce questions like:

Answer 39

Who do you think who's under there?