LING 213; Spring 2015

Homework #4 (Syntax)
1. [10 points]
Apply the substitution (= pronominalization) test to determine which of
the bracketed sequences in the following sentences from constituents. Support your
answer by rewriting each sentence with the substitution.
a. [A girl in the office] talked with the doctor and the nurse.
[she] talked with the doctor and the nurse.
b. The girl with the big dog jogged [in the park].
The girl with the bid dog jogged [there].
c. The happy students read many [book in the library].
* The happy students read many [it]
d. The man ran [up the hill] and became so tired.
The man ran [there] and became so tired.
e. Jane will [leave town]
Jane will [do so].
2. [10 points]
Apply the movement (= fronting) test to determine which of the bracketed
sequences in the following sentences form constituents. Support your answer by
rewriting each sentence with the bracketed sequence moved.
a. We ate our lunch [near the river bank].
[Near the river bank] we ate our lunch.
b. The man at the desk looked [up the number] in the telephone book.
* [Up the number] the man at the desk looked in the telephone book.
c. The [island has been] flooded.
* [Island has been] the flooded.
d. I love [peanut butter and bacon sandwiches].
[Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches] I love.
e. The athlete worked [out the problem].
* [Out the problem] the athlete worked.
3. [10 points]
Apply the cleft sentence test to determine which of the bracketed
sequences in the following sentences form constituents.
a. Mary brought [a scrumptious coffee cake] to the gathering.
It was [a scrumptious coffee cake] that Mary brought to the gathering.
b. Mary brought [a scrumptious coffee cake to the gathering].
* It was [a scrumptious coffee cake to the gathering] that Mary brought.
c. John placed [his head between the cows horns].
* It was [his head between the cows horns] that John placed.
d. John and Mary mentioned the new restaurant [on Putney Road to me].
* It was [on Putney Road to me] that John and Mary mentioned the new restaurant.
e. John and Mary mentioned [the new restaurant on Putney Road] to me.
It was [the new restaurant on Putney Road] that John and Mary mentioned to me.

Do the following exercises (4 6) from your textbook (pp. 129 138)

4. [5 points] Do exercise #5. (You dont have to conform to the X-bar schema for this
question.) See attached.
5. [10 points] Do exercise #7 f o.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.

Its ridiculous that he washes his own Rolls-Royce.

That woman likes for the waiter to bring water when she sits down.
The person who answers this question will win $100.
The idea of Romeo marrying a 13-year-old is upsetting.
I gave my hat to the nurse who helped me cut my hair.
For your children to spend all your royalty payments on recreational drugs is a
shame.
l. Give this fork to the person Im getting the pie for.
m. Khaw chya waa khruu maa. (Thai)
n. Je me demande quand il partira. (French)
o. Jan zei dat Piet dit book niet heft gelezen. (Dutch)
6. [5 points] Do exercise #16.
a. i. Head-final. These prepositional (postpositional) phrases all end with a preposition
(postposition).
ii. PP NP P
7. [40 points] Draw tree diagrams for the following sentences. See attached.
a. Cats with long tails sauntered along the fence.
b. The audience gave the actors great applause.
c. Patrick thinks that sugar gliders are excellent pets. (Treat sugar gliders as a single
noun)
d. I think that Macon claimed that Aaron believed that Andrea said that Rachel detests
oysters.
e. We moved the desk through the door and into the hall.
f. Each and every candidate attended the rally.
g. Abby played the piano and danced a jig.
h. The nerd with the stud earing won the bike in a contest. (Treat stud earing as a
single noun in this sentence.)
8. [10 points] Draw two tree diagrams to represent the two meaning of the following
sentence. (Be sure to indicate which meaning goes with which tree.) See attached.
A review of the new book by Chomsky appeared in a journal.