Linguistics 322

Fall 1998

Week 11

Exercise No. 10

Exercise I:

Determine the logical form for the following sentence, determine its surface structure, and explain each step: what motivates each step in the second example:

1. Buy that emu!
2. Don't you song that sing!

Exercise II:

This is an exercise on problem solving rather than testing what you already know. What you do know will be a very useful aid in solving the problem. Here you are to isolate the operator in the following sentences and write a grammatical (lexical) entry for the operator containing the appropriate features which will enable you to determine the derivation. The bold font marks emphasis! Assume that emphasis is phonetically marked by heavy stress. The operator that you are accounting for plays a special role in the first sentence:

1. John did see a unicorn!
2. Did John see a unicorn?
3. John did not see a unicorn!
4. Didn't John see a unicorn?
5. John has seen a unicorn!
6. John hasn't seen a unicorn!
7. Was a unicorn seen by John?
8. Had a unicorn been seen by John?

Hint: Place the operator outside of POLARITY such that it subcategorizes it. Derive #8 using the features you propose for the new operator and the universal rules of syntax that you have already learned.

Next week I'm going to have you guys analyze on your own the following S:

Mary asked Bill if he is coming to class.

You may start thinking about it now.

Course Outline L322