reading quiz

1. Which of the following sentences involves syntactic/structural ambiguity?

2. The English possessive -‘s attaches to the end of …?
   1. the end of a phrasal constituent (a whole NP).
   2. however different constituent structures that yield different NPs are possible.
3. A single word can form a phrase. T/F?
   1. True (e.g. pronouns, wh-words)
4. Which of the following is a proform?

Pro-forms are divided into several categories, according to which part of speech they substitute:

• A pronoun substitutes a noun or a noun phrase, with or without a determiner: it, this.
• A pro-adjective substitutes an adjective or a phrase that functions as an adjective: so as in “It is less so than we had expected.”
• A pro-adverb substitutes an adverb or a phrase that functions as an adverb: how or this way.
• A pro-verb substitutes a verb or a verb phrase: do, as in: “I will go to the party if you do so”.
• A prop-word: one, as in “the blue one”
• A pro-sentence substitutes an entire sentence or subsentence: Yes, or that as in “That is true”.[2]

1. Which of the following trees contains a recursive VP structure?
   1. [VP [VP bought that book] [PP with her first wages]]
      1. The PP is adjunct, can be separated from the complement “that book”

Constituency tests

1. Kim wrote the book with the blue cover.
2. Kim bought the book with her first wages.

Displacement: the displacement of phrase sets up dependency between the displaced phrase and the empty position associated with it.

Replacement by pronoun

If string of words can substitute with pronoun, it forms a constituent.

Sentence fragment tests

• What did Kim write?
  • The book with the blue cover.
• • What did Kim write with the blue cover?
• What did Kim buy?
  • • The book with her first wages.
• What did Kim buy with her first wages?
  • The book.

Echo question test

wh-word can replace a constituent

• • Kim wrote what with the blue cover?

• Kim wrote the what with the blue cover?

• Kim bought what with her first wages?

Cleft test

cleft construction: $X V Y [PP] \rightarrow It was Y that X V [PP]$

• It was that book with the blue cover that Kim wrote
• • It was that book with her first wages that Kim bought

Do-so test

A VP can be replaced by a “do/did so”.

Coordination test

Only constituents of the same category can be coordinated.

RS within a tree

Each indiv lexical item is the smallest possible constituent (leaves of the syntax tree)

• phrasal nodes (VP, NP, PP, S aka TP Tense Phrase)
• lexical nodes (V, P, D, N)

Parent node immediately dominates child node. Ancestor nodes dominate descendant nodes.

Verb classes and constituent structure tests

• Those smugglers shook off their pursuers.
• Those smugglers shook their pursuers off.
  • Transitive phrasal verb: The preposition can always be placed after the NP instead.