LINB06 Problem Set 2
Shohini Bhattasali
Fall 2023, University of Toronto Scarborough
Name(s):
Student number(s):
You may work in groups of two and submit your answers as a single PDF on Quercus.
You’re welcome to use this as a template and write in the empty spaces, and you can also
type your answers in a new blank document but please include the correct subsections
(e.g., 1.1 or 1.2, depending on which question you’re answering).
1 Constituency (5 points)
Answer yes or no based on whether the sequence of words is a constituent in the sentence
found in example (1). You don’t have to give evidence for your answer.
(1) Some guy always brings a jar of those homemade pickles.
1. always brings Yes No
2. brings a jar of those homemade pickles Yes No
3. Some guy Yes No
4. a jar Yes No
5. brings a jar Yes No
1
2 Parameters (9 points)
See if you can determine the parameter settings for these languages given below. Put
your answer in a table like the one below (no evidence needed). English is done for you
as an example.
Assume the following: Determiners are typical examples of specifiers; Adjectives and
many PPs (although not all) are adjuncts. “Of” PPs and direct objects are complements.
Be sure to check the complement/adjunct relation in all categories (N, Adj, Adv, V, P,
etc.) if you can.
A. Hixkaryana, a Carib language from Brazil. Sample data:
(2) Kuraha
bow
yonyhoryeno
made
biyekomo.
boy
‘The boy made a bow.’
(3) Newehyatxhe
take-bath
woriskomo
women
komo.
all
‘All the women take a bath.’
(4) Toto
person
heno
dead
komo
all
yonoye
ate
kamara.
jaguar
‘The jaguar ate all the dead people.’
B. Dutch, a West Germanic language spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium. Sample
data:
(5) De
the
man
man
in
in
de
the
regenjas
raincoat
is
is
naar
to
Amsterdam
Amsterdam
gegaan.
going
‘The man in the raincoat is going to Amsterdam.’
(6) De
the
man
man
heeft
has
een
a
gele
yellow
auto
car
met
with
een
a
aanhanger
trailer
gekocht.
bought
‘The man has bought a yellow car with a trailer.’
(7) De
the
vrouw
woman
heeft
has
een
a
auto
car
gekocht.
bought
‘The woman has bought a car.’
(8) Jan
John
is
is
vertrokken.
gone
‘John left.’
C. Tzotzil, a Mayan language spoken in Mexico. Sample data:
(9) ’ispet
carry
lok’el
away
’antz
woman
ti
the
t’ule
rabbit
‘The rabbit carried away (the) woman.’
2
(10) ’ibat
go
xchi’uk
with
smalal
her-husband
li
the
Maruche
Maruche
‘(the) Maruche went with her husband.’ (Maruche is a proper name)
(11) Pas
built
ti
the
’eklixa’une
church
‘The church was built.’
Fill out the rest of the table, given the data above:
Language Specifier Adjunct Complement
English (YP) X’ Both (Adv/Adj) X (ZP)
Hixkaryana
Dutch
Tzotzil
3
3 Structural Positions (8 points)
Keeping in mind the definitions of adjunct, complement, and specifier (e.g., the adjunct
is daughter of a bar level, sister to a bar level) determine the relationship between the
following phrases and its respective head. The first one is filled out as an example.
1. BP is a specifier to A .
2. DP is to .
3. CP is to .
4. EP is to .
5. FP is to .
6. IP is to .
7. HP is to .
8. GP is to .
4
4 Mistakes in Tree Drawing (10 pts)
It’s easy to make mistakes in tree drawing when you’re using X-bar theory. Below are
some English phrases and some trees with mistakes in them. State what the mistakes are
and then draw the correct tree.
[Note: For this question, you do not need to assume the DP hypothesis that we introduced in Week
4]
A) biked without a helmet
Mistake 1:
Mistake 2:
Correct tree:
5
B) bought a bike from the store on Tuesday
Mistake 1:
Mistake 2:
Correct tree: