Topics In Linguistics REPORT

  1. What are the two main approaches in Syntax?

T………………………. Grammar and U……………………. Grammar.

 

  1. T…………………… Grammar is a kind of gen………. Grammar.

 

  1. Chomsky suggests that humans are born with certain grammatical rules. This is referred to as U………………… Grammar.

 

  1. Chomsky suggests that human language allows us to apply rules and make infinitely long sentences. This is called R…………………….

 

  1. Suggest some problems with making infinitely long sentences.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

  1. A S………………… scholar called P……….……. was born in present-day P………….…. about 2,500 years ago.

 

  1. The Enlightenment philosopher, Rene D………………. said that our creative ability to think proves that we exist.

 

  1. Chomsky was influenced by the work of B……………….. (1914) and H…………… (1951).

 

  1. Write ONE word to continue/complete the following sentences:
  2. I …..
  3. Mary likes …..
  4. I saw the book that John ……….
  5. He picked up the big, thick ………..
  6. She put the papers on the large …………
  7. I know that she thinks that you said she is ………..
  8. I think the pencil is in the tray under the desk in the living ……..
  9. I am going to the party with Hanako and Taro and …………
  10. Chomsky suggests that our ability to apply recursive rules makes language i……………… creative.

 

  1. The big question that people asked in the 1950s was how children can learn languages so effectively and …………….

 

  1. Research suggests that children get about ………………. hours of speaking practice by the time they are six years old.

 

  1. In your opinion, why are children so good at learning languages?

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

  1. What was Chomsky’s most famous sentence, and why was it important?

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

  1. Below, draw a simple tree diagram to illustrate the sentence “The thin boy laughed” according to Chomsky’s 1957 version of Generative Grammar. Use the following Phrase Structure Categories: S (sentence); NP (noun phrase); Det (determiner); Adj (adjective); N (noun); VP (verb phrase); V (verb); aux (auxiliary node); Tense (tense node).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. What is strange about the tree diagram in 15?

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

  1. Below, draw a simple tree diagram to illustrate the sentence “They can go” according to Chomsky’s 1957 version of Generative Grammar. Use the following Phrase Structure Categories: S (sentence); NP (noun phrase); VP (verb phrase); V (verb); aux (auxiliary node).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. In the 1965 version of Chomsky’s Generative Grammar, an Operator (Op) node was added. What did it do?

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

  1. The Innateness Hypothesis claims that human language ability works s……………..………. and i……………………….. from ordinary mental capacities.

 

  1. Suggest some problems with the Innateness Hypothesis.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

  1. The Linguistics Wars of the 1960s and 1970s was between Chomksy’s followers, who thought that Syntax was most important, and others who believed that S………………. was also important.

 

  1. Below, draw a simple tree diagram to illustrate the sentence “Did he go?” according to Chomsky’s 1965 version of Generative Grammar. Use the following Phrase Structure Categories: S (sentence); Op (Operator node); NP (noun phrase); VP (verb phrase); V (verb); aux (auxiliary node).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. X-bar theory suggested that all syntactic categories have the same kind of structure. Below, complete the simple diagram to show what this looked like for VP, NP, and IP.

 

VP                                            NP                          IP

V                                               N                             I

 

  1. In X-bar theory, a sentence was an I……………………. Phrase.

 

  1. In X-bar theory, the I-node replaced the ……….- node.

 

  1. Verbs take Objects, also known as C………………….…..
  2. In X-bar theory, the Subject is in ………… of IP.

 

  1. In X-bar theory, the Op-node was expanded to become the C…………………….. Phrase (CP).

 

  1. Below, draw a simple tree diagram to illustrate the sentence “Did he go?” according to Chomsky’s 1986 (X-bar) version of Generative Grammar. Use the following Categories: CP; C’; C; IP; I’; I; VP; V’; V; NP; N’, N and show inflectional movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Movement operations became known as Move-………….. which meant that you pretty much move anything anywhere.

 

  1. English has sentences like “What did you buy?”

Japanese has sentences like “Anata wa nani-o katta no?”

These sentences show that English, unlike Japanese, has ………. Movement.

 

  1. Complete the following sentence:

……………. did you buy the books?

……………. did she say to you?

I want to know …….…. you think.

 

  1. Below, draw a tree diagram to illustrate the sentence “What did he buy?” according to Chomsky’s 1986 (X-bar) version of Generative Grammar. Use ALL the following Categories: CP; C’; C; IP; I’; I; VP; V’; V; NP; N’, N and show inflectional and wh- movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. What is strange about the NP node in 31 above?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

  1. Look at the following sentences:
  2. Who did they see?
  3. Who saw the movie?

 

Explain the presence of did in a but not b.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

  1. Give three simple examples for each of the following categories:

Noun:       …….…….…….   ………….………   …………………….

Adjective:     …….…….…….   ………….………   …………………….

Preposition: …….…….…….   ………….………   …………………….

Verb:         …….…….…….   ………….………   …………………….

  1. Below, draw a tree diagram to illustrate the Noun Phrase/Determiner Phrase “The cat” according to Chomsky’s 1986 (X-bar) version of Generative Grammar. Use ALL the following Categories: DP; D’, D; NP; N’, N.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. What is strange about the diagram in 35 above?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

  1. Look at the following example: “I bought the book”

Let us say we can use simple rules to explain this. For example:

S –> NP VP

VP –>  V NP

Extend these rules for VP and PP to handle an example such as: “I gave the book to Mary”

VP –> ……………………………………………

PP –> ……………………………………………

 

  1. The verb eats Sub………….………….. for a Subject and an Object (or Complement).

 

  1. The verb gave Sub……………………… for a Subject and two Complements, a Noun Phrase and a P………………………. Phrase.

 

  1. The verb think Sub…………….. for a ……………….. and a ……….………… Complement.
  2. Unification Grammars use a m……………. operation instead of movement.

 

  1. “Aren’t I the boss?”

Why does the example above present problems for Generative Grammar?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

  1. “Taro hates himself”
  2. “Taro hates him”

Why is it that himself in 42 a must mean Taro but him in 42 b must not?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

  1. Chomsky’s ideas about the innateness of human language ability have been challenged by C……………………. Linguists.

 

  1. C………………. Linguistics have both Syntactic and S…………………. information in words.

 

  1. In Chomsky’s Minimalist Program, language is assumed to be p…………………… in design.

 

  1. Unification Grammars employ feature-structure sharing, which is a kind of p…………………-matching.

 

  1. Complete the Subcategorization Information below:

Walks verb[finite]

SUBJECT <NP: Case ……….

[……. Person, …….. Number]>

 

 

 

  1. Complete the Subcategorization Information below:

Sees verb[finite]

SUBJECT       <NP: Case …………

[…… Person, ………. Number]>

 

COMPLEMENT <NP: Case ……….>

 

  1. Unification Grammars model words in an ……………… Value Matrix.

 

  1. What is wrong with the following sentence? Mention case.

“Him walks.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

  1. What is wrong with the following sentence? Mention case.

“They walks.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

  1. What is wrong with the following sentence? Mention case.

“I saw she.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

  1. What is wrong with the following sentence? Mention case.

“I gave she the book.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

  1. What is wrong with the following sentence? Mention case.

“Her showed the pencil to they.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

  1. Why don’t Unification Grammars need phrase structure such as Inflectional Phrase, or a Tense Phrase, or an Agreement Phrase?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

  1. Do you think Tense (like past tense, future tense etc.) is part of Syntax or is it part of meaning? Explain your answer.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

  1. Can you think of any problems connected with the idea that human language ability is innate?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

  1. Think of your experience learning English in Junior High School, High School, and University.

How did your innate knowledge of language help you?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

How did your own efforts to understand and communicate help you to learn English?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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