April

13

Introduction to Linguistics: Problem Set

Benoit Uson

Universit du Qubec Trois-Rivires 7090 Baccalaurat en enseignement des langues secondes LIN1096-00 Introduction to Linguistics

Benoit Uson

LIN1096: Introduction to Linguistics

25 April 2013

Problem Sets

Part 1

1. (a) Who did you meet?

1(b) The window was broken.

Benoit Uson

LIN1096: Introduction to Linguistics

25 April 2013

Question 1 The wh-word in the sentence Who did you meet? encountered wh-movement and was FRONTED from the VP-complementizer position to the CP-specifier position. The wh-phrase acts like it is the direct object of the verb, thus occurring at the complementizer position of a VP. Wh-movement is not CASE motivated, thus Wh-DPs move out of CASE positions. The CP-specifier is not a CASE position; hence, wh-movement can move from a CASE position to a CASEless position. We know that heads determine the nature of phrases and clauses are categorized as CPs; therefore, an interrogative clause must have an interrogative complementiser. The head, in this case, agrees with its specifier; hence, the movement of a wh-phrase into the specifier of a CP ensures that it has a (+wh) head. Question 2 The subject DP you moved positions from the VP-specifier to the IP-specifier position. The DP you in the VP-specifier position gets the THETA role of agent but assumes a CASEless assignation. We know that that ALL DPs must be assigned CASE according to the CASE Filter; hence, DP-movement is necessary to satisfy a proper grammatical structure. Question 3 The auxiliary did moved from the I (head) in IP to C (head) in CP. Auxiliary verbs are inserted at the I (head) in IP automatically in a grammatical tree structure since the verb movement parameter is set to off in the English language, hence verbs cannot be fronted in interrogative structures. At the Inflectional Phrase level, the auxiliary is automatically inflected with tense. In its minimal structure, this example has neither auxiliary nor modal, only a main verb. The main verb meet cannot move to I nor C. A dummy do is therefore inserted in I that then moves to C. Question 4 The DP who c-commands its trace. C-command is based on the relationship of dominance. A node dominates another node if it is above it in the tree structure: Alpha c-commands Beta if and only if Alpha does not dominate Beta, Beta does not dominate Alpha and the first branching node that dominates Alpha, also dominates Beta. According to this definition, the DP who does not dominate its trace and its trace does not dominate the DP and first branching node dominates the DP as well as its trace; hence the DP c-commands its trace. Question 5 The DP the window c-commands its trace. C-command is based on the relationship of dominance. A node dominates another node if it is above it in the tree structure: Alpha c-commands Beta if and only if Alpha does not dominate Beta, Beta does not dominate Alpha and the first branching node that dominates Alpha, also dominates Beta. According to this definition, the DP the window does not dominate its trace and its trace does not dominate the DP and first branching node dominates the DP as well as its trace; hence the DP c-commands its trace.

Benoit Uson

LIN1096: Introduction to Linguistics

25 April 2013

Part 2

1. STRUCTURE OF 4(a) The man who is from NY is happy. In this phrasal structure it is possible to predict which auxiliary verb will be FRONTED in a question derived from that sentence. It is stunning to see that the second auxiliary is positioned lower than the first minimal IP in the highest-level CP. The second auxiliary raises only one branching phrasal node to attain the interrogative structure while the first auxiliary raises five branching phrasal nodes to attain the same state. Children do not make the mistake of fronting the first auxiliary, which proves that they seem to know these types of structures through an innate mechanism. Hence, prediction of the second auxiliary being FRONTED is possible. 2. FLAT STRUCTURE OF 4(a) The man who is from NY is happy. In this Flat Structure, the second auxiliary appears further away than the first auxiliary. To form a question from a declarative sentence, we must locate the first auxiliary verb that follows the subject of the sentence and place it at the beginning of the sentence. (Akmajian, Demers, Farmer, & Harnish, 2010). As we attempt Verbal Fronting of the first auxiliary, we are confronted with a THETA role constituent. The DP-The man who is from NY is assigned the AGENT role in the VP-is happy by answering the question Who - is happy?. Since the first auxiliary verb is part of that respective DP, it also receives the AGENT role. Thus, the first auxiliary following the subject of the sentence is the auxiliary in the VP-is happy. Hence, making the prediction of possibility of prediction a difficult task without changing the phrasal structure.

Benoit Uson

LIN1096: Introduction to Linguistics

25 April 2013

Part 3

Question 1 A. Nobody saved me any money. In sentence 6(a) the NPI principle is respected due to c-command. C-command is defined by: A node dominates another node if it is above it in the tree structure: Alpha c-commands Beta if and only if Alpha does not dominate Beta, Beta does not dominate Alpha and the first branching node that dominates Alpha, also dominates Beta. Since the NQP-Nobody does not dominate the QP-any and that the QP-any does not dominate the NQP-Nobody but the first branching node dominating the NQP-Nobody dominates the QP-any then, the NQP-Nobody c-commands the QP-any, thus respecting the principle in (7).

Benoit Uson

LIN1096: Introduction to Linguistics

25 April 2013

Question 1 B. *That nobody went to Boston saved me any money. In sentence 6(b) the NPI principle is not respected due to c-command failure. C-command is defined by: A node dominates another node if it is above it in the tree structure: Alpha c-commands Beta if and only if Alpha does not dominate Beta, Beta does not dominate Alpha and the first branching node that dominates Alpha, also dominates Beta. The NQP-Nobody does not dominate the NQP-any and the NQP-any does not dominate the NQP-Nobody but the first branching node dominating the NQP-Nobody does NOT dominate the NQP-any; thus, the NQP-Nobody does NOT c- command the NQP-any; hence NOT respecting the principle in (7).

Benoit Uson

LIN1096: Introduction to Linguistics

25 April 2013

Question 1 C. Nobody saved me any money. *That nobody went to Boston saved me any money. If both these sentences had a flat structure rather than a hierarchical structure, it would be impossible to explain the difference in grammaticality between them since every word in both sentences will c-command any other word. (went c-commands nobody, saved c-commands that) Hence, if all words can c-command any other words in the sentence, then c-command properties are not respected and the difference in grammaticality could not be explained