Assignment 2
LINGUIST 601
September 9, 2008
Due on September 16, 2006
Assignment 2
I. The following sentences look superficially similar.
(1)
a. He looked up the number.
b. He walked up the hill.
However, it turns out that they have rather different constituent structures. The most striking fact
is that in (1a) but not in (1b) the word up can appear at the end of the sentence.
(2)
a. He looked the number up.
b. *He walked the hill up.
Traditionally, verbs that behave like look up are called phrasal verbs.
a. Think up three more examples of phrasal verbs, and three examples of verbs which are not
phrasal but can appear in sentences like (1) with the same superficial structure. Then using
various constituency tests, determine the constituent structure of your phrasal verbs and your
non-phrasal verbs.
b. Phrasal verbs differ in their syntax from non-phrasal verbs in a number of other ways. For
example, phrasal verbs with pronominal objects tend towards unacceptability if the prepositional
element precedes the pronoun.
(3)
a. He looked it up.
b. *He looked up it.
Check whether this is true of your examples, and show any contrasts you find with non-phrasal
verbs.
c. Determine how your phrasal verbs and your non-phrasal verbs pattern with respect to the
placement of certain optional elements such as adverbials (slowly, often), simple prepositional
phrases (in the town), and complex prepositional phrases (as quickly as he could). In an order like
V P NP, the question of interest is whether optional elements may appear between the V and the
P and between the P and the NP. It might be helpful to investigate both light and heavy NPs.
Formulate a hypothesis that relates the pattern you find to the constituent structure of the two
kinds of verbs.
d. What can be said about the constituency of the boldfaced sequences in cases like the following?
(4)
a. He looked the number up.
b. They ate it up.
II. I said in class that CPs could function both as complements and adjuncts. It is generally as-
sumed that the CP in (5a) is a complement of the noun and that the CP in (5b) is an adjunct on the
NP.
(5)
a. The rumor [CP that Markus is a werewolf]
b. The rumor [CP that Markus spread]
Can you find any empirical evidence to support this claim?
III. Result clauses are know to have both narrow-scope and wide-scope readings.
(6)
Narrow Scope
a. Susan said hei ate so much chocolate that Johni got sick.
b. Susan said hei was so stupid that Johni would leave his keys at home.
c. Susan said hewent to the cinema so much that Johni has little money left.
(7)
Wide Scope
a. Shei said John ate so much chocolate that he got angry with Susani.
b. Shei said John was so stupid that he got angry with Susani.
c. Shei said John went to to the cinema so much that he got angry with Susani.
Using pronominal coreference judgements as well as constituency diagnostics determine if the
Narrow Scope and Wide Scope readings correspond to different attachment heights for the result
clause. Identify which reading goes with which structure.
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