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Introduction to Syntax, LINGUIST 401Final ExamDecember 6, 2007Due: December 13, 2007Final ExamTotal: 125 pointsYou are not allowed to co-operate with your fellow classmates on this exam. Clarification ques-tions should be sent to me. In evaluating your responses, I will grade you on correctness, clarity,and precision. Your answers should present clearly the logic behind your choices. Make sure thatyour trees do not violate X-bar theory. 5 out of the 125 points in this exam are reserved for theprevention of unnatural trees.1: Assuming the judgements given, give an account of the following pattern of grammaticality.1Your explanation should make reference to X-bar theory, in particular the complement-adjunctdistinction and one-substitution. Focus on the bracketed constituents. Make sure you determinethe complement/adjunct status of the PPs of the match/of the riots and at the match/in the bar (5pts.).Draw trees for the bracketed constituents in (1b) and (1c). For the ungrammatical constituents,draw as much of the tree as you can and indicate where ungrammaticality enters into the picture.(15pts.)(1) a. i. *[The discussion of the match] was more animated than [the one of the riots].ii. [The discussion at the match] was more animated than [the one in the bar].b. i. [The discussion of the riots and their implications] was full and frank.ii. [The discussion at the match and in the bar] was full and frank.iii. *[The discussion of the riots and in the bar] was full and frank.c. i. [The discussion of the riots in the bar] was full and frank.ii. *[The discussion in the bar of the riots] was full an frank.2: (2) is ambiguous. Point out the ambiguities (5pts.) and construct trees to go with each am-biguity (10pts.)Assume for this problem that why starts off merged as an adjunct on VP: [V P[V P. . .] [Adv Pwhy]].(2) Why does Mary believe that John resigned?Only one of the readings available in (2) is available in (3).1If your judgements differ, please indicate this on your exam and see if you can come up with an account of yourjudgements in addition. This is quite optional.(3) Why does Mary believe the rumor that John resigned?Which reading is available here? (2pts.) Construct a tree for the available reading (4pts.). Makingreference to islands, explain why the other reading is unavailable here. As a part of an explanationconstruct a tree for the unavailable reading (4pts.) and indicate on the tree why the missingreading is unavailable (4pts.).The following sentences are essentially unambiguous.(4) a. Where did Tom say that Mary knows French?b. When does Tom believe that Mary saw the secret memoOn their primary interpretations, (4a) asks for the location of Tom’s saying that Mary knowsFrench, and (4b) asks for the time at which Mary saw the secret memo according to John. Whatare the missing/less easy to access interpretations? (3pts.) Why are they missing/ less easy toaccess? (3pts.)3: Give trees that illustrate the following constellations of movement:(5) a. T-to-C movement, movement of XP to [Spec,CP] (the specifier of CP), XP is not a wh-phrase.2(10pts.)b. Movement to [Spec,CP], no T-to-C movement (10pts.)4: Consider the following examples.(6) a. I will be in my office [if you should need me].b. I will be in my office [should you need me].c. *I will be in my office [if should you need me].d. *I will be in my office [should if you need me].Draw a tree for (6b). (10pts.) Why are the bad examples bad? (5pts.)5: In the in-class assignment that we did on Dutch, we saw the following data.(7) In matrix clauses, the highest verb appears after the first constituent. The other verbsappear at the end.a. JanJanateat.Pstdietheappel.apple‘Jan ate the apple.’2You can use English example for this problem as well as examples from other languages. Think Dutch (see below) orthink negative.2b. JanJanmoetmustdietheappelappleeten.eat‘Jan must eat the apple.’c. JanJanheefthasdietheappelapplegegesseneaten‘John has eaten the apple.’d. JanJanmoetmustdietheappelapplegegesseneatenhebbenhave‘John must have eaten the apple.’(8) In the above examples, the subject appears in the first position. But this is not necessary.The object can also appear in first position and the interpretation there is similar to theinterpretation found with topicalization in English, Fish, I like. but lamb, I hate..a. Dietheappelappleateat.PstJanJangisterenyesterday‘The apple, John ate yesterday.’b. Gisterenyesterdayateat.PstJanJandietheappelapple‘Yesterday John ate the apple.’We analyzed the above data as showing us the following things:(9) a. T and V are head-final in Dutch.b. C is head-initial in Dutch.c. In matrix clauses, T moves to C.d. T is always occupied by the highest verb.e. An XP moves to [Spec, CP] in matrix clauses.a. Given the above assumptions draw a tree for (8b). Assume that Gisteren ‘yesterday’ is an AdvPthat starts off adjoined to the VP.3(7.5pts.)Support for our assumptions comes from the fact that in embedded clauses in Dutch where thereis always an overt complementizer dat ‘that’, the highest verb stays behind at the end of the clause.(10) a. IkIdenkthinkdatthatJanJandietheappelappleat.eat.Pst‘I think that John ate the apple.’b. IkIdenkthinkdatthatJanJandietheappelappleeteneatmoet.must‘I think that John must eat the apple.’In these examples, the C of the embedded clause is already occupied by dat ‘that’ and somoet ‘must’ cannot move to C and stays in its final position. The specifier of dat staysunfilled.3You could in principle recycle the answer to this question for another question earlier in the exam.3b. Given the above assumptions draw a tree for (10a). (7.5pts.)c. Now consider German which is very similar to Dutch. All the Dutch examples you have seenso far have direct counterparts in German. But there is an important difference. In German, withsome verbs, the embedded complementizer daß ‘that’ is optional. When the complementizer ispresent, German looks like Dutch. But when the complementizer daß ‘that’ is missing, we get thefollowing pattern.(11) a. daß ‘that’ is present:Sieshesagtesaid[CPdaßthatwirwekeinenoB¨ucherbookskaufenbuysollten]should‘She said that we should not buy any books.’b. daß ‘that’ is absent:Sieshesagtesaid[CPwirwesolltenshouldkeinenoB¨ucherbookskaufen]buy‘She said that we should not buy any books.’What accounts for the different positions of sollten ‘should’ in (11)? (7.5pts.) Draw a tree for


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UMass Amherst LINGUIST 401 - Final Exam

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