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Linguistics 201
1
Give parses for the following sentences. Two of these sentences are ambigous. They
have two parses each, that yield different meanings. For these two sentences, provide
both parses and indicate what their meanings are.
(1)
NP
NPs
Aux
should
Det
the
pet
VP
VP
Aux
have
child
NP
eaten Det
larger
N
insect
NP
Det
VP
every
cat ran
and
VP
VP
PP
barfed
in
NP
Det
the
N
kitchen
VP
Det
VP
every
VP
cat
PP
VP
in
ran
barfed
and
NP
Det
the
kitchen
c. These tricky problems and solutions bothered the TAs.
i. These tricky problems and the solutions bothered the TAs.
S
NP
VP
Det
these
NP
and
tricky
solutions
bothered
Det
the
N
TAs
problems
ii. These tricky problems and tricky solutions bothered the TAs.
S
VP
NP
Det
these
N
A
tricky
V
N
and
bothered
N
problems
solutions
NP
Det
the
N
TAs
2
Let me teach you a new suffix in English: [bow]. Heres an example of it: [D@ laUdbow fEl @slijp]. A [laUdbow] is someone who is loud. Here are some more examples:
[Ngrijbow], [sAftbow], [kwaItbow], [2glijbow], [2nhpijbow] and [naIsbow]. Give me
the rule for this suffix; tell me what category (part of speech) it belongs to. Give the
representation for the word [2nhpijbow] using tree notation.
Answer:
[bow] attaches to adjectives. Because the words it makes are nouns, we can tell from the
Righthand Head Rule that [bow] is a noun. The parse for [2nhpijbow], is:
N
A
N
bow
??
2n
hpij
3
Transcribe and syllabify the following words.
(2)
a. devilry:
N O N
C O
ij
b. productivity:
O
ph
c. encrusted:
C O
ow
O
kh
N O
N O
ij
th
N
2
O
s t
N C
I
4
Consider the following words.
gixo bar
Gug
glass
geski turkeys
buxu white
h +consonantal i
Compare the -continuant sounds
+back
kExUd
xubik
gEbuk
gkeg
space
GAfk2St
wood
g2sixA
metal
uSnig
round
kGAb
h +consonantal i
and the +continuant sounds
+back
water
air
dirt
cool
and tell me whether
Answer:
h
The
+consonantal
-continuant
+back
h +consonantal i
[+continuant ]
+continuant
+back
+vocalic
+back
5
Which of the following could be words of English? For each one that is impossible,
tell me which phonological constraint(s) prevents it.
(3)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
6
Give a sentence that illustrates the Coordinate Structure Constraint.
*CP
S
C
NP
Aux
has
S
NP
VP
VP
who
VP
she
V
talked
PP
PP
and
PP
NP
to
about
N
N
Sam
7
Parse the following words into their constituent morphemes, and give the category that
each suffix belongs to.
(4) retieableness
N
A
A
V
ij
nEs
2bl
"
taI
(5) unlikelihood
N
N
A
A
2n
hUd
laIklij
(6) rerouted
V
V
ij
?V
V
Id
raUt
8
Each of the following are impossible words in English. Tell me what goes wrong with
each of them.
violates the requirement that re attach to a verb. It is
attaching
either to an adjective (happy) or a noun (hap(1) rehappiness:
piness) in this example.
(2) reroutedness:
9
Which of the following pairs of sounds are phonemes in English and which allophones.
For each phoneme, give me a minimal pair that illustrates their phonemic status.
(1) [T] and [z]
[ph ]
(6) [] and []
(7) [uw] and []
allophones
phonemes, minimal pairs: [SAt] vs. [kAt]
allophones
phonemes, minimal pairs: [b] vs. [b]
phonemes, minimal pairs: [suwt] vs. [st]
10
The following are some sentences from Elvish.
(1)
a. Blaeg sturt.
Elves stink
Elves stink.
b. Blaeg til fowrkin
siter lin flanker.
Elves in dining-halls hands the eat
Elves eat the hands in dining-halls
c. Blaeg zum up Rundag til peed flanker.
Elves some on Sundays in bed eat
Some elves eat in bed on Sundays.
d. Blaek lin mit staker up Rundag til peed flankter.
Elf the with cats on Sundays in bed ate
The elf ate in bed on Sundays with cats.
e. Blaek zan lin up Mandag siter zum flankter
Elf lazy the on Saturday hands some ate
The lazy elf ate some hands on Saturday.
f. Blaek zan umber lin up Mandag til peed siter sun bling zum
Elf lazy ugly the on Saturday in bed hands red greasy some
trastty.
butchered
The ugly lazy elf butchered some greasy red hands in bed on Saturday.
Complete the following rules for Elvish in such a way that they allow one to parse all of
the sentences above.
(2)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
S NP VP
NP N (Det)
NNA
NN
VP (NP) V
VP PP VP
PP P NP