Extra Homework

This homework assignment is not required. However, if you complete this assignment it can be used to substitute for your lowest grade on any previous homework. The effect of this is that it could bring you up a grade. The maximum score on this homework is 11/10. Even if you don't need the make-up assignment, you can use these questions as practice study questions in preparing for the final exam.

Posted Sunday November 29th, due Thursday December 10th, 5pm. Put in mailbox of either Phillips or Eastwick in the Linguistics Department, #46 East Delaware Avenue.

A. Phonology

1. Fromkin & Rodman, exercise 8 (pp.309) [2 points]

2. Fromkin & Rodman, exercise 15 (p. 314) [3 points]

B. Syntax

This part of the assignment can be done with pencil and paper. However, it can be done much more easily using the same Trees program that was used in earlier assignments. We strongly recommend that you use the program, as it almost guarantees that you will do better. In order to do this assignment, you will need to choose the grammar file "Subcategories.gr". This grammar file is available for you to download (see below), so you can get to work right away if you can download it.

Reminder: The Trees program only runs on Macs, so there is no point in trying to download the program or the grammar file (Subcategories.gr) to a PC/Windows machine.

In order to use the Trees program to do this exercise, you will need to download the subcategories.gr grammar file that we have created for this purpose. It is not currently in the Trees folder on the Mac lab computers.

• Download subcategories.gr This will download the grammar file from the linguistics web server: the file that downloads is called "subcategories.gr.sit" which is a compressed Stuffit file. Your web browser should automatically uncompress this to create the file "subcategories.gr". If the file is not automatically uncompressed, then you can uncompress it using the program Stuffit Expander which should be on all Mac computers. If you just double click on the file "subcategories.gr.sit" this should launch Stuffit Expander and automatically uncompress the file.
• To use this grammar you need to first make sure that a file called "subcategories.gr" is now available on the computer that you are working at. It is likely to be on the desktop. [You can use the find command if you do not see it on the desktop.]
• Next open the Trees 2.1.2 program. If you find that your computer has Trees 2.0.1, do not use this - this is an old version of the program which should have been deleted, and it will not work.
• Once Trees 2.1.2 is open, you should close any open windows and select the command Choose Grammar from the File menu. This command opens a dialog box which allows you to select the grammar that you want to use. You will probably find that "subcategories.gr" is not in the first list of files that the dialog box shows you - you will need to use the pull down menu at the top of the dialog box to go to where "subcategories.gr" is stored, and then select that.
• Once you have selected the grammar file "subcategories.gr", you can now use the command New from the File menu to open a new Tree drawing palette and workspace.
• Further instructions on using the Trees program can be found in the on-line instructions pages.

3. Structural Ambiguity in English [2 points]

Draw the trees for the following sentences (under their most plausible interpretation). Note that there may be more than one tree that will get you the words in the right order and that the grammar will produce; but to get the right tree you will have to think of what is modifying what.

1. Jo saw a woman in a hat. (meaning: the woman has the hat)

2. Joe saw a woman in a hat with a child. (meaning: the woman has the child)

3. Jo saw a woman in a hat with a big brim. (meaning: the hat has the wide brim)

4. The magician gave a dollar to the woman with the child. (meaning: the child is with the woman)

4. Subcategorization of English verbs. [4 points]

Consider the following sentences:

i. Kim believed that Jo met the children.

ii. Kim believed her story.

iii. The magician gave the child a dollar.

iv. The magician gave a dollar to the child.

v. The children contributed the hospital a dollar.

vi. The children lent the man a dollar.

vii. Jo saw that the children lent the man a dollar.

viii. Jo saw the children.

ix. Jo put the children.

a. Which of the sentences do you personally judge to be acceptable (descriptively!). [If you are not a native speaker of English you will have to consult with someone who is; English speakers in the class are requested to be as helpful as possible in this regard.]

b. Which of the sentences is allowed by the subcategorizations for the verbs given at the end of this assignment? You need only consider the subcategorizations of the verbs (not the nouns, etc). The subcategorizations given at the end of the assignment correspond to the entries in the lexicon of subcategories.gr - so if you use the Trees program, this question amounts to asking which sentences can be built with the subcategories.gr grammar. Note: you do not have to give the actual trees for any of the sentences.

c. For any sentence(s) which you judged to be unacceptable in English but which is allowed by the subcategorizations as given, state what changes would have to be made to the subcategorizations to better fit your judgments.

d. For any sentence(s) which you judged to be acceptable in English but which is not allowed by the subcategorizations given, state clearly what would need to be changed in the subcategorizations to better fit your judgments.

subcategories.gr Grammar (Phrase Structure Rules):

S --> NP VP

NP --> Det N

PP --> P NP

VP --> V (intransitive verbs, e.g. 'appear')

VP --> V NP (transitive verbs, e.g. 'see')

VP --> V NP NP ("double object" verbs, e.g. 'give', as in 'give her something.')

VP --> V NP PP (ditransitive verbs, e.g. 'put')

VP --> V S' (sentence complement verbs, e.g. 'realized')

VP --> VP PP (vp-modifier rule)

N --> AdjP N (n-modifier rule)

AdjP --> Adv AdjP (adj-modifier rule)

NP --> NP PP (np-modifier rule)

S' --> Comp S

AdjP --> Adj

Subcategorizations for the verbs in the question:

believed	V	____ S'
gave	V	____ NP NP ____ NP PP
contributed	V	____ NP NP ____ NP PP
lent	V	____ NP NP
saw	V	____ NP
slept	V	____
put	V	____ NP PP