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/r/syntax

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1

Why is "There's two paintings on the wall" a grammatical sentence?

Just came across this question in a practice set of questions I received. It's a generative syntax question and the assigned textbook is by Andrew Carnie.

A. There's two paintings on the wall. B. *There is two paintings on the wall.

Basically we have to explain the grammaticality judgement.

0 Comments
2024/04/17
19:06 UTC

1

"sir" as in "Sir Nicholas"

Hello, I am studying for an exam for my Syntax class and I came across a sentence while practicing my trees. "Sir Andrew is very foolish" I can figure out where everything belongs except for what node "sir" belongs to. I am posting this the night before my exam and I can't find an answer on Google. I could use some help figuring this out. Thank you!

0 Comments
2024/04/03
15:23 UTC

2

I need a help about English syntax

It is well known that coordinate conjunctions can conjoin constituents of the same grammatical category but cannot conjoin constituents of different grammatical categories, as exemplified in (1) and (2).

(1) a. fond of a dog and afraid of a tiger b. very slowly and very steadily c. a princess of Denmark and a prince of the United Kingdom d. I think that Mary likes poems and Susan novels. e. I think that Mary likes poems and that Susan likes novels. (2) a. *like a dog and afraid of a tiger b. *slowly and the car c. *a princess of Denmark and with long hair d. *I believe Mary to be honest and that Susan is kind. e. *I believe that Mary is honest and Susan to be kind. AP can conjoin with another AP, AdvP with another AdvP, NP or DP with another NP or DP, TP with another TP, and CP with another CP.

TP, meaning Tense Phrase, is a clause that does not include a complementizer like Mary likes poems in (3a). CP, meaning Complementizer Phrase, is a clause that includes a complementizer. The embedded clause of sentence (3a) has the structure in (3b).

(3) a. I think that Mary likes poems.

State whether sentence (4) and sentence (5) can be conjoined with the coordinate conjunction but as in sentence (6). Then, explain why, identifying the grammatical category of sentence (4) and that of sentence (5).

(4) I am feeling thirsty. (5) Should I save my last cola till later? (6) I am feeling thirsty but should I save my last cola till later?

this is a question in English syntax test I ve learned that all sentences are CP (with null-complementizer) however, there are no hint for using that background knowledge. According to that direction, the sentence 4 should be TP (because there are no complementizer). And the coordination also cannot be applied without 'comma' (bcuz it is independent clauses), and TP and CP are different categories..

So what is your opinion? i want to know others' opinions.

1 Comment
2017/11/27
06:58 UTC

3

Help me! Do you think these sentences are acceptable?

I'm a graduate student who studies linguistics in South Korea. Now, I'm writing a final term paper about 'Sluicing' which is a kind of an ellipsis structure in English. However, I lack in English intuition to determine whether the following sentences are acceptable to English native speakers. So, I want you to share your opinion with me. Please choose which one is acceptable!

① They were firing, but at what was unclear. ② They were firing, but what at was unclear. ③ They were firing, but at what they were firing was unclear. ④ They were firing, but what they were firing at was unclear. ⑤ They were firing, but it was unclear at what. ⑥ They were firing, but it was unclear what at. ⑦ They were firing, but it was unclear at what they were firing. ⑧ They were firing, but it was unclear what they were firing at.

3 Comments
2014/06/14
13:51 UTC

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