老师新编_简明英语语言学教程第二版第4章答案

《新编简明英语语言学教程》第二版

第

4

章

练习题

参考答案

Chapter 4

Syntax

1. What is syntax?

Syntax is a branch of linguistics that studies how words are combined to form sentences and the

rules that govern the formation of sentences.

2. What is phrase structure rule?

The grammatical mechanism that regulates the arrangement of elements (i.e. specifiers, heads, and

complements) that make up a phrase is called a phrase structure rule.

The phrase structural rule for NP, VP, AP, and PP can be written as follows:

NP

→

(Det) N (PP) ...

VP

→

(Qual) V (NP) ...

AP

→

(Deg) A (PP) ...

PP

→

(Deg) P (NP) ...

We can formulate a single general phrasal structural rule in which X stands for the head N, V, A

or P.

The XP rule:

XP

→

(specifier) X (complement)

3. What is category? How to determine a word's category?

Category

refers

to

a

group

of

linguistic

items

which

fulfill

the

same

or

similar

functions

in

a

particular language such as a sentence, a noun phrase or a verb.

To determine a word's category, three criteria are usually employed, namely meaning, inflection

and distribution.

若详细回答，则要加上：

Word

categories

often bear some

relationship

with

its

meaning.

The

meanings

associated

with

nouns and verbs can be elaborated in various ways. The property or attribute of the entities denoted by

nouns can be elaborated by adjectives. For example, when we say

that pretty lady

, we are attributing

the property ‘pretty’ to the lady designated by the noun. Similarly, the propertie

s and attributes of the

actions, sensations and states designated by verbs can typically be denoted by adverbs. For example, in

Jenny left quietly

the adverb

quietly

indicates the manner of Jenny's leaving.

The second criterion to determine a word's category is inflection. Words of different categories

take different inflections.

Such nouns as

boy

and

desk

take the plural affix -

s

. Verbs such as

work

and

help

take

past

tense

affix

-

ed

and

progressive

affix

-

ing

.

And

adjectives

like

quiet

and

clever

take

comparative

affix

-

er

and

superlative

affix

-

est

.

Although

inflection

is

very

helpful

in

determining

a

word's category, it does not always suffice. Some words do not take inflections. For example, nouns

like

moisture

,

fog

, do not usually take plural suffix

-

s

and adjectives like

frequent

,

intelligent

do not

take comparative and superlative affixes -

er

and -

est

.

The last and more reliable criterion of determining a word's category is its distribution. That is

what type of elements can co-occur with a certain word. For example, nouns can typically appear with

a

determiner

like

the

girl

and

a

card,

verbs

with

an

auxiliary

such

as

should

stay

and

will

go,

and

1

adjectives with a degree word such as

very cool

and

too bright

.

A

word's

distributional

facts

together

with

information

about

its

meaning

and

inflectional

capabilities help identify its syntactic category.

4. What is coordinate structure and what properties does it have?

The

structure

formed

by

joining

two

or

more

elements

of

the

same

type

with

the

help

of

a

conjunction is called coordinate structures.

It has (

或写

Conjunction exhibits) four important properties:

1) There is no limit on the number of coordinated categories that can appear prior to the conjunction.

2) A category at any level (a head or an entire XP) can be coordinated.

3) Coordinated categories must be of the same type.

4) The category type of the coordinate phrase is identical to the category type of the elements being

conjoined.

5. What elements does a phrase contain and what role does each element play?

A phrase usually contains the following elements: head, specifier and complement. Sometimes it

also contains another kind of element termed modifier.

The role each element can play:

Head:

Head is the word around which a phrase is formed.

Specifier:

Specifier

has

both

special

semantic

and

syntactic

roles.

Semantically,

it

helps

to

make

more

precise the meaning of the head. Syntactically, it typically marks a phrase boundary.

Complement:

Complements

are

themselves

phrases

and

provide

information

about

entities

and

locations

whose existence is implied by the meaning of the head.

Modifier:

Modifiers specify optionally expressible properties of the heads.

6. What is deep structure and what is surface structure?

There are two levels of syntactic structure. The first, formed by the XP rule in accordance with

the

head's

subcategorization

properties,

is

called

deep

structure

(or

D-structure

).

The

second,

corresponding

to

the

final

syntactic

form

of

the

sentence

which

results

from

appropriate

transformations, is called

surface structure

(or

S-structure

).

（以下几题只作初步的的成分划分，未画树形图

,

仅供参考）

7. Indicate the category of each word in the following sentences.

a) The

old

lady

got

off

the

bus

carefully.

Det

A

N

V

P

Det

N

Adv

b) The

car

suddenly

crashed onto

the

river bank.

Det

N

Adv

V

P

Det

N

c) The

blinding

snowstorm

might

delay

the

opening

of

the

schools.

Det

A

N

Aux

V

Det

N

P

Det

N

d) This

cloth

feels

quite

soft.

Det

N

V

Deg

A

8.

The

following

phrases

include

a

head,

a

complement,

and

a

specifier.

Draw

the

appropriate

2