LIN102 Assignment #2
Summer 2021 – July 15, 2021
Instruction
� This assignment consists of 7 parts and will be graded out of 45 points
� The assignment is due at 11:59AM on Thursday, July 22nd
� Your responses must be submitted via the “Assignment” page on Quercus (no submis-
sion over email is accepted)
� You must read and follow any formatting requirement that is specified in the questions.
If you do not follow, you will be penalized.
� You may not collaborate on the assignment (see assessment policies in the syllabus)
� The “I don’t know” policy (see below) may only be applied to the questions that
are explicitly marked as applicable
‘I Don’t Know’ Policy
If you have no idea how to respond to a question, as long as the question is marked as a
question you can apply the policy to, you may put the exact phrase “I don’t know” and you
will automatically receive a partial credit (usually 20%) for the question.
Part A: True/False questions (5 points)
For each statement below, identify whether it is True (T) or False (F).
(a) Based on the Data below, a hypothetical language Kazian is a SOV language.
(b) Based on the Data below, we have sufficient evidence to believe that Kazian is an aggluti-
nating language
(c) When we apply the complementation rule to form a new phrase, the category of the new
phrase is always determined by the right-most subpart of the phrase
(d) Adjuncts are not required to be substituted when we apply the substitution to a string of
words containing them
(e) The word for in the sentence ‘Jean bought a gift for Marie.‘ is a complementizer.
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Data (Kazian)
(1) a. mali-s
new-pl
djor-is
book-plural
kal
I
bwulaN-udu
buy-past
‘I bought new books.’
b. æm@S-It
exam-definite
pEljek-is
student-plural
kjola-m-ef
like-negation-present
‘Students don’t like exams.’
Part B: Constituency I (6 points)
In each of the following sentences, you will find a highlighted string of words as well as the name
of a constituency test. Determine whether the highlighted string of words forms a constituent or
not by applying the constituency test that is specified for the sentence.
Your response must include at least one sentence illustrating the application of the
specified constituency test.
(a) Hong-yan read a book about astrophysics last week. [Substitution test]
(b) Ana Tona will discuss the answers to the assignment next week. [Movement test (cleft)]
(c) Should I walk over the bridge? [Coordination test]
Part C: Constituency II (8 points)
Consider the following sentences and answer the questions (a) – (c) below.
(1) The instructor looked over the answers.
(2) The neighbour looked over the fence.
(a) In (1), the preposition ‘over’ forms a constituent with the verb (i.e., [looked over] is a
constituent). Provide evidence that supports this claim.
(b) The sentence “*Over the fence the instructor looked.” is ungrammatical. Does this piece of
data challenge the claim in (a) that [looked over] forms a constituent? Briefly justify your
answer.
(c) Now consider (2). Does the preposition ‘up’ form a constituent with the verb? Explain why
or why not.
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Part D: Structural ambiguity (9 points)
Consider the following sentences and answer the questions (a) – (c) below.
(3) Kaz ate the dish in the kitchen.
(4) It is the dish in the kitchen that Kaz ate.
(a) The sentence (3) is ambiguous. Explain why it is ambiguous by discussing the meanings
that are available in the sentence.
(b) Now consider the sentence (4). In (4), only one of the meanings you specified in (a) is
available. Which one is it? Why do you think that this is the only meaning available?
(c) Suppose that you are drawing a tree diagram for the sentence in (3) with the meaning that
you specified in (b). Fill in the following blanks (i)-(iii) with the options below:
Options: N, NP, V, VP, A, AP, Adv, AdvP, P, PP, T, T’, TP, C, C’, CP
The ambiguity arises because there are two positions in the clausal structure where the
constituent “in the kitchen,” which is a(n) (i) , attaches. The meaning of the sentence is
what you identified in (b) when “in the kitchen” attaches as a sister node to (ii) . The same
sentence can be interpreted in the other meaning (i.e., the one you didn’t identify in (b))
when the constituent “in the kitchen” attaches to (iii) .
Part E: Subcategorization (4 points)
The ‘I Don’t Know’ Policy is applicable to this question. You will score 1 point.
Explain why the following sentence is ungrammatical. Your answer (i) may not be longher than
3 lines and (ii) must include discussion of subcategorization and tense.
Sentence: *John expected that Mary to graduate from the university this fall.
Part F: Complementation vs. adjunction (6 points)
For each of the highlighed words in the following sentence, identify whether the word has been
introduced to the sentence structure via the complementation rule or the adjunction rule.
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Use the letter “C” and “A” for your answers respectively.
i. The group of energetic(1) students celebrated their graduation(2) with a party(3).
ii. The instructor gave the textbook(4) with a red cover(5) to his TA(6).
Part G: Syntax tree (7 points)
Provide a tree diagram for the following English sentence. Make sure you follow the formatting
requirements below. On the Quercus assignment page, you will be asked to upload a file containing
your tree.
Kaz really hopes that he can attend the party.
Formatting requirements
� Your answer will be graded only if your tree diagram is submitted to Quercus in PDF
(.pdf) format. No other file format is accepted.
� You may draw the tree in any manner you have access to, be it drawing on a tablet
device, type-setting using text editors that allow you to create a tree (e.g., Microsoft
Word, LaTex).
� Make sure that the labels and lines in your tree are clear and non-ambiguous
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