英语语言学Chapter 4：Syntax
2012-03-13 22:07阅读：
Chapter 4：Syntax
I. Decide whether each of
the following statements is True
or False:
1. Syntax is a subfield of
linguistics that studies the
sentence structure of language,
including the combination of
morphemes into words.
2. Grammatical
sentences are formed following a
set of syntactic rules.
3. Sentences are composed of
sequence of words arranged in
a simple linear order, with
one adding onto another
following a simple arithmetic
logic.
4. Universally found
in the
grammars of all human languages,
syntactic rules that comprise
the system of internalized
linguistic knowledge of a
language speak-er are known as
linguistic competence.
5. The syntactic rules of
any language are finite in
number, but there is no
limit to the number of
sentences native speakers of
that language are able to
produce and comprehend.
6. In a complex sentence,
the two clauses hold unequal
status, one subordinating the
other.
7. Constituents that can be
substituted for one another
without loss of grammaticality
belong to the same syntactic
category.
8. Minor lexical categories are
open because these categories
are not fixed and new
members are allowed for.
9. In English syntactic analysis,
four phrasal categories are
commonly recognized and discussed,
namely, noun phrase, verb
phrase, infinitive phrase, and
auxiliary phrase.
10. In English the subject
usually precedes the verb and
the direct object usually
follows the verb.
11. What is
actually internalized in the
mind of a native speaker
is a complete list of
words and phrases rather than
grammatical knowledge.
12. A noun phrase must
contain a noun, but other
elements are optional.
13. It is believed that
phrase structure rules, with the
insertion of the lexicon,
generate sentences at the level
of D-structure.
14. WH-movement is obligatory in
English which changes a sentence
from affirmative to
interrogative.
II. Fill in each of the
following blanks with one word
which begins with the letter
given:
15.A s____________ sentence consists
of a single clause which
contains a sub-ject and a
predicate and stands alone as
its own sentence.
16.A s____________ is a
structurally independent unit that
usually comprises a number of
words to form a complete
statement, question or command.
17.A s____________ may be a
noun or a noun phrase in
a sentence that usually precedes
the predicate.
18. The part of a sentence
which comprises a finite verb
or a verb phrase and
which says something about the
subject is grammatically called
p___________.
19. A c___________ sentence
contains two, or more, clauses,
one of which is incorporated
into the other.
20. In the complex sentence,
the incorporated or subordinate
clause is normally called an
e_____________ clause.
21. Major lexical categories are
o_________ categories in the
sense that new words are
constantly added.
22. A ___________ Condition on
case assignment states that a
case assignor and a case
recipient should stay adjacent
to each other.
23. P___________ are syntactic
options of UG that allow
general principles to operate in
one way or another and
contribute to significant linguistic
variations between and among
natural languages.
24. The theory of C__________
condition explains the fact that
noun phrases appear only in
subject and object
positions.
III. There are four given
choices for each statement
below. Mark the choice that
can best complete the statement:
25. A sentence is
considered __________ when it
does not conform to the
grammatical-cal knowledge in the
mind of native speakers.
A. right
B. wrong C.
grammatical D.
ungrammatical
26. A __________ in the
embedded clause refers to the
introductory word that introduces
the embedded clause.
A. coordinator B.
particle C.
preposition D.
subordinator
27. Phrase structure rules have
________ properties.
A. recursive
B. grammatical C.
social D.
functional
28. Phrase structure rules allow
us to better understand
____________
A. how words
and phrases form sentences.
B. what constitutes the
grammaticality of strings of
words
C. how people produce and
recognize possible sentences
D. All of the above.
29. Syntactic movement is
dictated by rules traditionally
called ________.
A. transformational rules
B. generative rules
C. phrase structure rules
D. x-bar theory
30. The theory of case
condition accounts for the fact
that __________.
A. noun phrases appear only
in subject and object positions.
B. noun phrases can be
used to modify another noun
phrase
C. noun phrase can be used
in adverbial positions
D. noun phrase can be
moved to any place if
necessary.
31. The sentence structure is
________.
A. only linear
B. Only hierarchical
C. complex
D. both linear and
hierarchical
32. The syntactic rules of
any language are ____ in
number.
A. large
B. small
C. finite
D. infinite
33. The ________ rules are
the rules that group words
and phrases to form grammatical
sentences
A. lexical
B. morphological
C. linguistic
D. combinational
34._______ rules may change the
syntactic representation of a
sentence.
A. Generative B.
Transformational C.
X-bar D. Phrase
structure
IV. Define the following terms:
35. syntax 36. Sentence
37. coordinate
sentence 38. syntactic categories
39.grammatical relations 40.
linguistic competence
41. transformational rules
42. D-structure
V. Answer the following
questions:
43. What are the basic
components of a sentence?
44. What are the major
types of sentences? Illustrate
them with examples.
45. Are the elements in
a sentence linearly structured?
Why?
46. What are the
advantages of using tree
diagrams in the analysis of
sentence structures?
47. What is NP movement.
Illustrate it with
examples.
Part IV.
35. syntax:
Syntax is a subfield
of linguistics. It studies the
sentence structure of language.
It consists of a set of
abstract rules that allow words
to be combined with other
words to form grammatical
sentences.
36. Sentence:
A sentence is a
structurally independent unit that
usually comprises a number of
words to form a complete
statement, question or command.
Normally, a sentence consists of
at least a subject and a
predicate which contains a
finite verb or a verb
phrase.
37. coordinate
sentence: A coordinate
sentence contains two clauses
joined by a linking word
called coordinating conjunction, such
as 'and', 'but', 'or'.
38. syntactic categories:
Apart from sentences and
clauses, a syntactic category
usually refers to a word
(called a lexical category) or
a phrase ( called a
phrasal category) that performs
a particular grammatical function.
39. grammatical
relations: The structural
and logical functional relations
of constituents are called
grammatical relations. The grammatical
relations of a sentence concern
the way each noun phrase
in the sentence relates to
the verb. In many cases,
grammatical relations in fact
refer to who does what to
whom .
40. linguistic competence:
Universally found in the
grammars of all human languages,
syntactic rules comprise the
system of internalized linguistic
knowledge of a language speaker
known as linguistic
competence.
41. Transformational rules:
Transformational rules are
the rules that transform one
sentence type into another
type.
42. D-structure: D-
structure is the level of
syntactic representation that exists
before movement takes place.
Phrase structure rules, with the
insertion of the lexicon,
generate sentences at the level
of D-structure.
Part V.
43. What are the
basic components of a sentence?
Normally, a sentence consists of
at least a subject and
its predicate which contains a
finite verb or a verb
phrase.
44. What are the
major types of sentences?
Illustrate them with examples.
Traditionally, there
are three major types of
sentences. They are simple
sentence; coordinate
(compound) sentence, and
complex sentence. A simple
sentence consists of a single
clause which contains a subject
and a predicate and stands
alone as its own sentence,
for example:
John
reads extensively.
A coordinate
sentence contains two clauses
joined by a linking word
that is called coordinating
conjunction, such as 'and',
'but', 'or'. For example:
John
is reading a linguistic book,
and Mary is preparing for
her history exam.
A complex sentence contains two,
or more, clauses, one of
which is incorporated into the
other. The two clauses in
a complex sentence do not
have equal status, one is
subordinate to the other. For
example:
Before John gave her a
lecture, Mary showed no interest
in linguistics.
45. Are the elements
in a sentence linearly
structured? Why?
No. Language is
both linearly and hierarchically
structured. When a sentence is
uttered or written down, the
words of the sentence are
produced one after another in
a sequence. A closer examination
of a sentence shows that
a sentence is not composed
of sequence of words arranged
in a simple linear order
with one adding onto another
following a simple arithmetic
logic. In fact, sentences are
also hierarchically structured. They
are organized by grouping
together words of the same
syntactic category, such as noun
phrase (NP) or verb phrase
(VP), as can be seen from
the following tree diagram:
S
NP
VP
Det
N
Vt
NP
Det
N
The
boy
likes
the
music.
46. What are the
advantages of using tree
diagrams in the analysis of
sentence structures?
The tree diagram
can not only reveal a
linear order, but also a
hierarchical structure that groups
words into structural constituents.
It can, in addition, show
the syntactic category of each
structural constituent, thus it
is believed to most truthfully
illustrate the constituent relationship
among linguistic elements.
47. What is NP
movement. Illustrate it with
examples.
NP movement involves the movement
of a noun phrase. NP-movement
occurs when, for example, a
sentence changes from the active
voice to the passive voice:
(A) The
man beat the child.
(B).The child was beaten by
the man.
B is the result
of the movement of the
noun phrases 'the man' and
'the child' from their original
positions in (A) to new
positions. That is, 'the man'
is postposed to the right
and 'the child' is
preposed to the
left.
Not all
instances of NP-movement, however,
are related to changing a
sentence from the active voice
to the passive voice. For
example:
(C) It seems
they are quite fit for
the job.
(D) They seem
quite fit for the job.
These sentences are identical in
meaning, but different in their
superficial syntactic representations.
It is believed that they
have the same underlying
structure, but (27b) is the
result of an NP
movement.
