LINB06 Problem Set 1 Shohini Bhattasali Fall 2024, University of Toronto Scarborough Name(s): Student number(s): Please read the following instructions carfully: You may work in groups of two. Submit your answers as a single PDF on Quercus. You’re welcome to use this as a template and write in the empty spaces, and you can also type your answers in a new blank document but please include the correct subsections (e.g., 1.1 or 2.6, depending on which question you’re answering). If you need a judgment about whether it’s possible to say something in English or not, you’re encouraged to post on Piazza. 1 Syntactic vs. Semantic judgments [5 points] Each of the following sentences might be considered to be ungrammatical, unacceptable, or just odd. For each sentence, indicate whether the ungrammaticality or oddness has to do with syntax (form) or semantics (meaning) or both and explain why. (1) The chocolate-covered sausage sincerely wanted her mother-in-law to leave. (2) What do you wonder who chased? (3) Cat the dog the bark at. (4) Dr. Bhattasali is a professor and not a professor. (5) Danced makes me to have tired. 1 2 Ambiguity [5 points] For the following English sentences please state whether they are ambiguous or not. If they are ambiguous, please provide the two paraphrases (a sentence with roughly the same meaning). If they are more than two paraphrases possible, please mention only two of them. If it is not ambiguous, please state why. Note: You do not have to draw any trees for this exercise. (6) Two sisters reunited after 15 years at the checkout counter. (7) Hospitals are sued by seven foot doctors. (8) Enraged raccoon attacks trashcan with broom. (9) Dealers will hear car talk after noon. (10) Priyanka said Lingzi went to the store quickly. 2 3 Parts of speech in German [6 points] In German, somewords appear as if they can be used inmultiple parts of speech. Examples (11) and (12) show how this is the case for one word, reich “rich” (underlined). PL shows that the word is in the plural form. (Base your answer only on this data, since the facts get complicated with more examples.) (11) a. Die the.PL Reichen rich.PL werden become noch still reicher. richer “The rich are getting even richer.” b. Hamburg, Hamburg ein a Paradies paradise für for die the.PL Reichen. rich.PL “Hamburg, a paradise for the rich.” (12) a. Die the.PL reiche rich Frauen women.PL wohnen live in in Bavaria. Bavaria “The rich woman lives in Bavaria.” b. Ein a reiches rich Mädchen girl spendete donated 50€. 50€. “A rich girl donated 50 euros.” State what category reich “rich” seems to be functioning as in the sentences above, and then describe the distributional evidence for your claim. 1. Sentences (11a) and (11b): 2. Sentences (12a) and (12b): 3 4 Phrase structure rules [7 points] Part A:Use the following phrase structure rules and words to make three sentences. Your sentences must be able to be generated by the phrase structure rules listed below. Rules Lexicon TP→ NP VP A: green, shiny, monstrous NP→ Det A N Det: every, the, a VP→ V NP Adv N: frog(s), book(s), sloth(s), turnip(s), midnight V: cooked, found, read, danced Adv: slowly, often, unhappily P: at, in, on Aux: might, will 1. 2. 3. Part B:None of the sentences below can be generated using the phrase structure rules and words given above. Modify the rules or add to the rules so that the sentences below can be generated. (13) Sloths danced. (14) Every shiny sloth read a book. (15) Green frogs cooked monstrous turnips at midnight. (16) Monstrous green frogs found every book. (17) Frogs often read books. Your rules here: 4 5 Constituency tests [15 points] Are the underlined strings of words in the following sentences constituents? For each un- derlined string, test whether it’s a constituent by showing a replacement test, a standalone test, and a movement test. Note: You can pick whichever movement test you want. For the standalone test, please make sure to include the question. (18) Humpty Dumpty washed himself with soapy water. (i) Replacement test: (ii) Standalone test: (iii) Movement test: (19) The greedy mouse devoured the cheese in the castle. (i) Replacement test: (ii) Standalone test: (iii) Movement test: (20) The Cheshire Cat dislikes grey mice with fuzzy tails. (i) Replacement test: (ii) Standalone test: (iii) Movement test: 5 (continued from previous page) (21) The Mad Hatter will give some chamomile tea to Alice. (i) Replacement test: (ii) Standalone test: (iii) Movement test: (22) Humpty Dumpty and the Cheshire Cat never eat together. (i) Replacement test: (ii) Standalone test: (iii) Movement test: 6 Structural relations in trees [3 points] Consider the following tree and indicate True or False next to each of the statements with respect to this tree. 6 (23) B is the mother of C and D. True or False? (24) E, F, G, H are sisters. True or False? (25) A is the daughter of M. True or False? 7 Swedish NPs [9 points] Consider the following data from Swedish. (If you speak Swedish, confine yourself to just this data, and don’t try to account for definite forms like the umbrella.) (26) a. folk “people” b. ett paraply “an umbrella” c. tre paraplyer “three umbrellas” d. ett äpple “an apple” e. ett rött paraply “a red umbrella” f. ett gult äpple “a yellow apple” g. ett mycket fint paraply “a very fine umbrella” h. ett gammalt fint paraply “a fine old umbrella” i. ett rött paraply med ett gult handtag “a red umbrella with a yellow handle” 1. What is the AdjP rule in Swedish? 2. Are determiners obligatory in Swedish NPs? 3. Are AdjPs obligatory in Swedish NPs? 4. What is the PP rule for Swedish? 5. Are PPs obligatory in Swedish NPs? 6. What is the NP rule for Swedish? 7. Draw trees for (g), (h), and (i). (You can do this on a separate page.) 7 51作业君版权所有