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The English and Foreign Languages University Hyderabad 500605, INDIA

Model Paper PhD: Linguistics and Phonetics Max. Marks: 50 Time allotted: 3 hours

This question paper has TWENTY FOUR (24) printed pages Notes and instructions: a. The question paper has seven sections: A, B, C, D, E, F and G. b. There are 14 questions in all. Answer any 5. Every question carries 10 marks. c. Answer each question in the s p ace p r o v ide d . Make sure to enter your admit pass no. on eac h sheet.

SECTION A
I. What is the best query processing order for searching:
(Dumbledore OR Snape) AND (Ron OR Hermoine) AND (Harry AND Gringotts) Term Frequency Harry 1177 Ron 378 Hermoine 250 Gringotts 26 Snape 157 Dumbledore 144

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II. Tick the correct answer:

i. How many zeros and ones can be used to represent amplitude if we use 8 bit quantization? a) 1600 b) 256 c) 8 d) None of the above ii. Normally, the amplitude of a harmonic spectrum decreases at the rate of a) 12 dB/octave b) 24 dB/octave c) 10 dB/octave d) 20 dB/octave iii. Which date will the following regular expression validate: (0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])[- /.](0[1-9]|1[012])[- /.](19|20)\d\d a) 12.12.12 b) 12.1.2012 c) 12.12.2112 d) 12.12-2012

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SECTION B
III.
A) Examine the data from Trevor, a child learning American English and answer the questions in the space provided. The childs pronunciations, the adult versions, and Trevors age has been given. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. i. Set A [g g] [kok] [kg] [gi:gu] [g g] [k k] [gigu] dog coat cat tickle bug cup pickle 1;5.1 1;5.18 1;3.4 1;7.26 1;5.18 1;5.13 1;9.2 Set B bed 1;6.17 h. [b :p] i. [b b ] butter 1;7.20 j. [p p] top 1;6.8

How would you characterize the way Trevors pronunciations differ from the adult versions? [2] What is the difference between changes in Set A and Set B? [1]

ii. iii.

On the position of change (first or second element), regroup the utterances into two sets. [2]

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Admit Pass No. B)

Look at the utterances of a child who is at the two-word stage. Set A mommy come daddy sit car go toy fall mommy is coming daddy sit down car is going away the toy has fallen down Set B eat grape drive car draw fish see plane he is eating grapes he drove the car please draw a fish see the plane flying Set C toy box doll floor cup table milk cup the toy is in the box the doll is on the floor the cup is on the table the milk is in the cup

i.

The utterances show evidence of some semantic relations that the child knows. Specify what are the semantic relations expressed in a) Set A: b) Set B: . c) Set C:

[3]

ii. iii.

How is the child s speech different from the adults? What does the data tell you about the childs knowledge of English?

[1] [1]

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IV.

Read the experiment given below and answer the questions that follow. Snedekker and Trueswell (2004) examined whether childrens parsing preferences are driven solely by their verb-specific knowledge, with little influence from the pertinent features of the reference world. In their study, children were given spoken instructions to move objects about on a table while their eye movements were recorded. Thirty-six children between 4;6 and 5;10 participated in the study. In the experiment, children heard instructions like PP-attachment ambiguity (e.g., Feel the frog with the feather): where with the feather could indicate an instrument, or could modify the frog (the frog which has a feather). Verbs with different structural preferences were compared: verbs like tickle which frequently appear with an instrument phrase (1a), verbs like choose which occur with a modifier phrase (1b), and verbs like feel that can occur with both a instrument and a modifier reading (1c). (1) a. Tickle the pig with the fan. (Instrument Bias). b. Choose the cow with the stick. (Modifier Bias) c. Feel the frog with the feather (Equi Bias)

Children heard such instructions in two possible configuration of objects: the 2-referent contexts, where the two identical stuffed animals (e.g., two frogs) were present, one of which was carrying the target instrument (a feather). The 1-Referent contexts were identical, except that one of the animals (frog) was replaced with a different animal (a serpent). With each of these contexts a target instrument (e.g., for 2c a large feather ) was provided. The results were systematic and striking. Five year-olds eye movements (how long they looked at the objects fixations) showed that the proportion of looks to the potential instrument upon hearing with the x systematically decreased across Instrument biased, equi-biased, and modifier biased verbs (Figure 1A). A similar trend was found when they had to do as instructed (Figure 1B). The findings show a sole reliance on the verb preferences with no sensitivity to the referential context.

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i.

For the following verbs, make a phrase as [verb] NP with a [NP], then say which of these verbs have a n instrument bias, which have a modifier bias, and which have an a. equi-bias. The verbs are: [3] b. hug, pinch, clean, poke, throw, find

ii.

When the children heard a construction with an x with a modifier biased verb they looked for a ..time at the instrument object than when they heard a instrument biased verb. [1] What can Snedecker and Trueswell prove through this study? [2]

iii. iv.

Using Figure (1A and 1B), say how do childrens action compare with childrens fixations on the instrument object? [2]

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V. Answer the following questions pertaining to distinctive

features: a. What feature sets apart the two sets of sounds below: Set A B [t ] and [d ] and [d] Ans: b. Examine the English words (hypothetical and real) below (ungrammatical sequences are starred). *[maup] *[nauf] *[saum] *[laub] *[sauk] *[raug] [t] Set

SECTION C

*[daung] [mouth], [house], [lout], [loud], [grouch], [gown], [howl], [gauge] Ans: Only consonants specified for the feature are allowed in the coda after in English monosyllabic monomorphemic words. the diphthong _ c. What feature specification allows you to group the following English exemplified by the letters in bold? face, rose, cash, measure, catch, badge . sounds of

Ans: The letters in bold above are specified for the feature

d. Examine the data from the language Moore, spoken in Burkina Faso below and answer the questions in the space provided. The language has the following vowels: Set A i e u o a e. What feature distinguishes the vowels [i/I] and [u/U]? Ans: The feature that distinguishes the vowels in the sets A and B is . Set B I U

The nominal suffix has two alternants, namely [--go] and [--gu]. Examine the data below

and answer the question in the space provided. Set A Set B kor--go lan--go sack hole zu--gu pil--gu - 9-- head granary

Admit Pass No. bId--go rUg--go sorrel pot

f. Explain where the suffixal alternant [--gu] occurs. Ans.

g. Can you predict which alternant hypothetical words /lis/ mud and /kUb/ plant? Ans: [lisg ]

of the suffix will occur in the

[kUbg_

VI. Examine the English words below:

Set A grammatical local artificial special locality artificiality speciality Set B grammaticality

a. Classify the suffix in sets A and B specifying the grammatical category of the base and suffix. b. Give two arguments for classifying the affix in set A as a level/stratum I or level/stratum II affix. c. Give one argument for classifying the suffix in set B as a level/stratum 1 or level/stratum 2 affix. d. What is the underlying representation of the suffix in set A? Justify your answer with reference to the words in set B.

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SECTION D
VII. Transcribe the following dialogue phonemically and mark the stress and the
wherever necessary. Indicate the Pre-Head, Head, Nucleus and Tail. Val it? Tom : Val : I havent seen it. Yes, you have. You were reading it an hour ago. I wasnt. I was reading the TV guide. OK. No need to get angry. One thing that upsets me about you is you always contradict me! No, I dont. You do. Youre doing it now! No, Im not. And the thing that annoys me about you is you always have : What I like about Sundays is Ive got time to read the paper. Where is

tone

Tom : Val :

Tom : Val :

Tom : Val to :

be right. Tom : Thats because I am!

VIII.
A) What is phonation? Discuss the different types of phonation with suitable examples and explain how implosives are phonated. OR B) 1. What are the cues used to identify plosives in a spectrographic analysis? Draw formant figures (the first three formants) to differentiate between /p, t, k/ 2. Write short notes on source filter theory.

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IX. Say whether following statements are true or false and correct the false statements.

SECTION E

a. In the minimalist framework, structural case is assigned under government.

b. Inherent case need not be checked in syntax.

c. Strong -interpretable features alone drive movement .

d. In the minimalist programme, the agent or experiencer NP is generated at Spec, TP.

e. The operation move applies on structures created via merge.

f. Phi-features on both arguments and verbs are interpretable.

g. -Interpretable features are rendered inert once they are checked.

h. Goal is the target of movement in the operation Agree.

i. Inherent case is associated with specific theta-roles.

j. Case features on both assigner and assignee are uninterpretable.

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X. Say what principle/constraint of grammar is violated in each of the following

ungrammatical sentences:

a. *Who does Lalita think that likes her?

b. *Sureshi thinks that himselfi is intelligent.

c. *Shaila i believes her i to be honest.

d. *Sham bought a saree his wife.

e. *It seems Sheela to be sad.

f. *Who did Mary meet when?

g. *Who did Mona love Sham?

h. *Which i did you like ti girl?

i. *Celina speaks very fluently French.

j. *Who do you believe the claim that married Mary?

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SECTION F
XI. Language is homogeneous and monolithic entity which is not subject to
changes caused by human interventions. Do you support this view? Can this issue be substantiated in the framework of linguistic trends such as structuralism and functionalism? Illustrate with suitable examples from relevant texts. (Answer in about 600 words)

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XII. Womans language seems to be more often used when individuals are
unemployed and have lower jobs than well educated people and professional (O Barr and Atkins 1980). What do you mean by womans language in this context? Is it possible to correlate the hierarchical gender norms with the symbolic linguistic behaviour and Marxian hypothesis of social structure governed by super structure? Explain. (Answer in about 600 words)

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SECTION G
XIII. A) What is the difference between semantics and pragmatics? Discuss.
B) What do you understand by compositionality of meaning? Discuss.

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XIV. A) Identify the participant roles in the following sentences:

a. b. c. d. e. f. The students sent the teacher a greeting card. The manager spoiled the show. Rohit made his wife a nice cup of tea. Bina sold her car to Vijaya. The magician opened the lock with his wand. The car hit the scooter.

B) What is entailment? What is the relation between paraphraseand entailment?

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