Module 3: Syntax · Section exam
Syntax exam
A 10-question review of all 7 lessons in Module 3: Syntax. Answer every question, then check your answers: each one comes with an explanation, and you can retake the exam as often as you like.
Syntax exam Module 3: Syntax review
10 questions · self-graded
1 Grasso summarizes syntax as "a bridge" between which two things? Etymology and punctuation Spoken and written language The sounds we produce and the meaning we intend Lexical and functional morphemes
Grasso calls syntax a bridge between meaning and the sounds we produce, summarizing Carnie's framing of syntax as the level that mediates between a speaker's sounds and intended meaning.
2 Which examples show that what is pronounced can differ from what is interpreted? Select all that apply Every boy hugged a girl has two readings but one pronunciationA cats never occurs in natural EnglishYes, we gave still includes a thing given and a recipient in its logical formThe three cats places the number between the and the noun
Both show a gap between phonetic form and logical form: one surface string with two interpretations, and unpronounced arguments that are still logically present.
3 Ezra is giving his stuffed animal to a child and Is Ezra giving his stuffed animal to a child? contain the same words but mean different things. Which principle does this most directly illustrate?Complementary distribution The no-agent idiom hypothesis Theta roles Compositionality
Compositionality holds that meaning depends on the parts and how they combine; identical parts combined in a different order yield a different meaning.
4 In gave his stuffed animal to a child , which word is the head that makes the unit a verb phrase? his gave child to
A verb phrase is by definition headed by a verb; gave is the head, and its arguments complete the phrase.
5 In Cooper threw a baseball , how is Cooper best classified? A complement An adjunct A specifier A head
Cooper is an argument, but it combines with the whole threw a baseball unit rather than directly with the verb, so it is a specifier.
6 Changing the subject of threw a boxing match from Cooper to the referee changes the special reading of throw . True or false True False
False. The reading stays the same whatever the subject, because idioms form from a verb and its complement, never from a verb and its agent specifier.
7 Aspect combines with the verb before tense does, and tense is the last functional category to combine with the verb. True or false True False
True. Aspect sits lower than tense, which is why Greek tenseless forms like the infinitive, subjunctive, and participle still carry aspect.
8 Why can a cat serve as the argument of a verb while bare cat cannot (cat walks fails)? Nouns need a determiner in order to refer Bare nouns can only be adjuncts, never arguments Singular nouns must move to the complementizer position Walks requires two arguments, not one
Allowing nouns to refer is the central function of the determiner phrase, which is why DPs rather than bare nouns serve as arguments of verbs.
9 Which phrase takes an inflectional phrase as its argument and can turn a complete thought into a question, a wish, or a subordinate clause? Determiner phrase (DP) Verb phrase (VP) Tense phrase (TP) Complementizer phrase (CP)
The IP yields a complete, tense-anchored thought, and the CP above it is where that thought becomes a question, wish, or subordinate clause.
10 Which claims about the Hebrew wayyiqtol and weqatal forms are supported in this section? Select all that apply They cannot be subordinated They prove that biblical Hebrew has a basic verb–subject order They are in complementary distribution with ki and asher They sit in the specifier of the determiner phrase They occupy the complementizer slot, having moved from V to C
Because they compete with ki and asher , these forms occupy C after V-to-C movement; this is evidence for movement driven by meaning, not for a basic verb–subject order.
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