grammatical foundations

Exercise 1

Exercise 1

Possible configurations: 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12

1: projection: a Y head cannot project WP, XP has no head, etc.

4: projection (Y as head); X©cannot dominate two maximal projections

7:crossing branches

8:complements must be maximal projections

10:lower XP should be rewritten as X; Y©should be a maximal projection

11:X©cannot dominate two maximal projections; the lower XP should be rewritten as

13:adjuncts must be maximal projections

14:specifiers must be maximal projections

15:ternary branching is not allowed

Exercise 3

The syntactic heads are nouns in each compound. The head is on the left in a) and e). The meanings of b), c) and f) merit discussion as the meanings of the components do not directly relate to the meaning of the whole compound. Perhaps it could be argued that these are exocentric compounds.

Exercise 4

In this exercise the existence of implicit arguments (a, i, j)should be pointed out. One argument cannot receive more than one theta role (c, d, e, f, g). One theta role can only be assigned to one argument (b). Clausal arguments may also receive theta roles (k and l).

Exercise 5

(1)Peter – agent/subject, Mary – beneficiary/indirect object, flowers – theme/direct object: no change in theta-roles or grammatical functions, only word order changes

(2)active: the postman – agent/subject, the letter – theme/direct object; passive: the letter – subject/theme: there is no change in theta-roles but as the subject is unexpressed, the object moves into its position and assumes its grammatical function

(3)he – agent/subject, us – theme/direct object: no change in theta-roles or grammatical functions occurs

(4)Peter – experiencer/subject, the scar – theme/direct object: in the second sentence the scar – theme/subject

(5)Mary – theme/subject: in the second sentence Mary – agent/subject: the meanings of the two sentences differ considerably with respect to who is pleasing who

(6)who – theme/direct object, you – experiencer/subject, the second sentence is ambiguous: who – agent/subject of lower clause, you – experiencer/subject of matrix clause OR who – theme/direct object

(7)he – agent/subject, a shower – theme/(eventive) object: no change in theta roles or grammatical functions

(8)he – agent/subject, the ball – theme/direct object: no change in theta roles or grammatical functions

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Exercise 6

Brackets symbolize the same as nodes do in the tree structure. Each pair of brackets corresponds to a node in the tree with the label given at the left bracket. The first pair of brackets gives the uppermost node, namely I. I is made up from the nodes H and J. Inside J we have a word c and the node K. Following this logic, we get the following tree structure:

d L

e f

Exercise 7

In the bracketed structure each pair of brackets represent a unit, like nodes do in the tree. Thus each node in the tree can have a corresponding pair of brackets in the bracketed structure. The strategy is to take a look at all nodes in the tree and to determine which words of the sentence are dominated by the particular node. To each node we will have a corresponding pair of brackets:

[K [I a [J b c]] [L [P d] [M e [N f [O g h]]]]]

Exercise 8

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Exercise 9

exp = experiencer; prop = proposition;

exp prop exp theme

(1)[Jack] thought [that [he] knew [the right answer]].

prop prop

(2)[One of the big parties]1 seems [to be unlikely [to be

prop agent theme

believed [e1 to win [the elections]]]].

agent theme beneficiary

(3)[John] gave [three red roses] to [Jane].

(4)[The teacher] wanted [[the students] to pass [the exam]].

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(5)It was believed [that [John]1 was taken e1 to [hospital]].

theme location

(6)There is [a man] at [the entrance door].

(7)[The exam sheets]1 were believed [to have been corrected e1 by [the teacher]].

In sentence (2) the DP one of the big parties is base-generated as the subject of the verb win in the lowest clause, so it is the argument of the verb win and receives its theta-role from the verb win. In sentence (5) the subject position is filled by an expletive pronoun, which again has no theta-role and thus it is no argument either.

Exercise 10

The adjuncts are given in brackets.

aThe [little] boy gave a [nice] drawing to his mother [for her birthday].

bThe teacher wanted to know whether the [new] students would know what to do [[when] they arrive].

c[Why] do you ask me whether I want to buy a [new] computer [next year]?

dThe [new] [guest] professor of Mathematics [from Germany] will [probably] arrive at the [[recently] renovated] [railway] station [at 2:15].

e[How] can you decide whether a loaf of bread [on the shelf] is fresh or not?

fJack and Jane saw a [very interesting] [new] film [at the cinema [in the [city] centre]].

g[Sometimes] it is difficult for students to find the adjuncts [in sentences [like this]].

hThe mayor of the city said that the river is unlikely to flood the city.

iThe workers didn’t believe that they didn’t have to work [on the following week].

Exercise 11

(1)a. David wrote a letter on the desk.

b.David put a letter on the desk.

c.Mary slept in the bed.

d.Mary stayed in the bed.

e.Jill arrived at the station.

f.Jill waited at the station.

Complements are part of the VP while adjuncts are added to the VP, forming another VP node:

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Exercise 11

VP YP

V© adjunct

V0 XP

complement

As it can be seen in (2), the verb and its complement forms a phrase without the adjunct, while the verb itself cannot form a phrase without its complement. This fact can be made use of when we would like to decide about the complement or the adjunct status of a particular item. If a phrase can somehow be separated from the verb, then it is an adjunct, while if it cannot be separated, then the phrase is probably a complement of the verb.

Let us apply the so called ‘do so’ test for sentences (1a) and (1b). The string do so or did so always substitutes for a VP. If the sentence is well-formed, then the phrase which do so stands for is a VP. If the sentence is ill-formed, then the string of words which do so stands for is not a VP.

(3)a. Jim wrote a letter on the table and David wrote a letter on the desk. b. Jim wrote a letter on the table and David did so on the desk.

As we can see in (3a–b), did so substitutes for wrote a letter. The sentence is wellformed, which means that the string wrote a letter is a VP. The PP on the desk is outside the VP, so it is an adjunct.

(4)a. Jim put a letter on the table and David put a letter on the desk.

b.*Jim put a letter on the table and David did so on the desk.

c.Jim put a letter on the desk and so did David.

In (4b) did so stands for put a letter. Since (4b) is ill-formed, the string put a letter cannot be a full VP. The PP on the desk is part of the VP, which can be seen in (4c) as well, where so did substitutes for put a letter on the desk. According to (4b), the PP on the desk is a complement of the verb in (1b).

Let us choose a different test for sentences (1c–d). The test used in (5) and (6) is called VP-fronting.

(5)a. Mary wanted to sleep in the bed and [sleep]1 she did e1 in the bed.

b.Mary wanted to sleep in the bed and [sleep in the bed]1 she did e1.

(6)a. *Mary wanted to stay in the bed and [stay]1 she did e1 in the bed.

b.Mary wanted to stay in the bed and [stay in the bed]1 she did e1.

In (5a) sleep was moved from behind did. The sentence is grammatical, which means that the moved item has to be a full phrase. sleep is a VP, thus the PP in the bed is an adjunct. Since the VP and the adjunct together form a VP node as well, sentence (5b) will also be grammatical.

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In (6a) only the verb stay is moved and the sentence is ill-formed. This means that stay alone cannot form a whole VP. The PP in the bed is now not an adjunct but a complement of the verb. If we move the verb and the PP together, the sentence is wellformed, as we can see in (6b).

Now let us consider the sentences is (1e–f). The test we are going to use is pseudoclefting.

(7)a. *What Jill did at the station was [arrive].

b.What Jill did was [arrive at the station].

(8)a. What Jill did at the station was [wait].

b.What Jill did was [wait at the station].

In the above pseudo-cleft sentences, if the sentence is well-formed, the string following the auxiliary was is a phrase, in these cases a VP. In (7a) the sentence is illformed, so the verb arrive alone is not a full VP. The PP at the station is a complement of the VP, thus it cannot be separated from the verb. (7b) is well-formed because the verb is not separated from its complement. In (8a), similarly to (7a), only the verb follows the auxiliary was. The difference is that now the sentence is well formed. This means that the verb wait and the PP at the station can be separated. The PP at the station is an adjunct. Since a VP and an adjunct form another VP node, the sentence in (8b) will be grammatical as well.

Exercise 12

(1)a. Julie met the student of Physics from France and I met the one from Spain

b.*John knows the student of Physics from France and I know the one of English from Spain.

(2)a. Julie met a student of Physics of considerable intelligence.

b.*Julie met a student of considerable intelligence of Physics.

(3)a. Julie met a student of Physics and of Mathematics.

b.*Julie met a student of Physics and of considerable intelligence.

The noun student has a PP complement. The PP complement contains a preposition and a DP that is understood as the object of student. The prepositional phrase of considerable intelligence is interpreted as an adjunct.

(i)In sentences (1) the indefinite pronoun one is introduced in the second clause. Pronouns in general have the same distribution as Determiner Phrases (DPs) have. In fact pronouns are analysed as heads of DPs that do not take NP argument. One seems to have different distribution as it excludes the definite article as sentence (1a) illustrates and it covers the head and the complement as is shown in (1b). (1b) is ungrammatical as the pronoun is substituted in the position of the noun head and excludes the complement PP between the adjunct PP and the article.

(ii)In sentences (2) the contrast is due to the strict order of the adjunct PP and the complement PP. Complements are always closer to the head than adjuncts in English. In sentence (2a) the complement immediately follows the head, while in (2b) the adjunct follows the head hence the sentence is ungrammatical.

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Exercise 13

(iii) In sentence (3a) both PPs can be interpreted as the complement of the head, therefore they can be coordinated and as coordinated PPs, they can be understood as the complement of the head. In sentence (3b) the adjunct PP and the complement PP are coordinated and that renders the sentence ungrammatical. The adjunct and the complement have different statuses in the DP, therefore they cannot be coordinated.

Exercise 13

(1)a John solved the problem independently of me.

b My professor lives right in the middle of nowhere. c I am very afraid of wild animals.

d John read a book about Britain.

(1a) The phrase in this sentence is an adverb phrase (AP) headed by the adverb independently. The adverb independently has one complement. a prepositional phrase PP of me. The head merges with the complement PP to form A©.In accordance with the Specifier Rule A©further projects into AP. The X©-structure of the adverb phrase is in (2):

A©

A PP

independently of me

(1b) The phrase in this sentence is a prepositional phrase (PP) whose head is in. It is modified by the adverb right. The DP the middle of nowhere functions as the complement of the prepositional head. The head is merged with the complement. They form the P©level. The adjunct right is merged with P©making P©recursive. Finally the P©level is projected into the PP.

P©

right P©

P DP

(1c) The structure in italics in sentence (4) is an adjectival phrase whose head is the adjective afraid. This adjective is a two-place predicate. It has an experiencer subject and a theme object. The adverb very is not in the lexical entry of the adjective. It functions as an adjunct in the structure. The adjectival head is merged with the

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Suggested Answers and Hints - Chapter 3

prepositional complement of wild animals to form A©.The adjunct is merged with A©to form another A©level. Adjuncts are added to the X©structure by making one of the levels recursive. Then the higher A©merges with the subject DP to form AP as in (4).

(1d) The phrase in this sentence is a noun phrase headed by the noun book. It has a prepositional complement about Britain. The noun merges with its complement PP to form N©, N©is further projects the NP level as in (5).

N©

N PP

Exercise 14

(1)a *The teacher from France of English likes going to open lectures. b *Mary often drives too fast her car.

c *Every student in Cambridge of Physics gets an excellent job.

(i) The phrase that is responsible for the ungrammaticality of the sentence is the NP teacher from France of English. The noun teacher is a one-place predicate that takes the PP complement of English.

The prepositional phrase from France is not in the lexical entry of the noun. It is an optional PP, an adjunct. The problem with the NP is that the adjunct intervenes between the head and the complement. Considering X-bar theory the first rewrite rule, the Complement Rule, is applied (2). The nominal head teacher merges with its prepositional complement forming the X©level as rule 1 indicates in (2).

(2)Rule 1: X©→ X YP

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Exercise 14

The adjunct PP is merged with the structure by making the X©level recursive as the result of the application of Adjunct Rule as in (4).

(4)Adjunct Rule 2: X©→ X©.YP

After combining the rules in (2) and (4) we get the structure in (5).

N© PP(adjunct)

N YP(complement)

There are two issues at stake here. One is that rule (2) is obligatory while rule (4) is optional. The second is that the application of rules (2) and (4) is ordered. First rule (2) must be applied. and then rule (4). In fact X-bar theory does not allow a head to be combined with an adjunct phrase. Rule 3 as in (5) is unavailable.

(6)*X©→ X YP (where YP is interpreted as an adjunct)

The other possibility is to allow for the adjunct to be able to intervene between the head and the complement as in the NP in sentence (1a) and still maintain the rules of X-bar theory as in (2) and (4) (excluding (6)) is to allow the branches of the tree to cross. It is again impossible. Therefore X-bar theory predicts that sentence (1a) is ill formed.

(ii) Sentence (1b) is problematic for the same reason as sentence (1a). The order of the elements in the VP drives too fast her car makes the sentence ungrammatical. drive is a two-place predicate, it has a agent subject and a patient theme. The lexical entry for the verb drive:

(7)drive cat: [–F, –N, +V]

-grid: <agent,patient> subcat: nominal.

As can be seen in (7) the verb has an object complement specified in its lexical entry, but no adverbial is present in the lexical specification, therefore the adverb phrase functions as an adjunct in the VP. The order of the constituents suggests that first the head and the adjunct are merged as it is in (6), then the complement is merged with the new structure, but as we have seen in (2), this is not possible. As has been shown earlier, X-bar theory does not permit branches to cross, hence the impossibility of VP structure in (1b).

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(iii) The DP subject in sentence (1c) is headed by the noun student, which is a one-place predicate. Its lexical entry is:

(8) student cat: [–F, +N, –V]-grid: <theme> subcat: prepositional

The PP in Cambridge is not in the lexical entry of the predicate student, as it cannot be interpreted as theme; therefore it is interpreted as an adjunct in the DP. The PP of Physics can be understood as the theme of the head. In this DP the same problem arises that we had in (i). In this structure the adjunct PP is again closer to the nominal head than the complement PP, which indicates that either the head is first merged with the adjunct, then the resulting structure with the complement or alternatively the branches of the tree should be allowed to cross. Neither of these strategies available in X-bar theory as in (i) and (ii).

Exercise 15

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