Chapter4Exercises含答案

Chapter 4 From Word to Text

I. Decide whether each of the following statements is true or false:

1. Grammatical sentences are formed following a set of syntactic rules.

2. The syntactic rules of any language are finite in number, but there

is no limit to the number of sentences native speakers of that language are able to produce and comprehend. 3. An endocentric construction is also known as headed construction

because it has just one head

4. Constituents that can be substituted for one another without loss

of grammaticality belong to the same syntactic category. 5. In English syntactic analysis, four phrasal categories are

commonly recognized and discussed, namely, noun phrase, verb phrase, infinitive phrase, and auxiliary phrase.

6. Number and gender are categories of noun and pronoun. 7. Word order plays an important role in the organization of English sentences.

8. Like English, modern Chinese is a SVO language.

9. In English the subject usually precedes the verb and the direct object usually follows the verb.

10. A noun phrase must contain a noun, but other elements are optional.

( 1-5 TTFTF 6-10 TTTTT )

II.Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which

begins with the letter given:

1 A s________ is a structurally in dependent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command

2. A clause that takes a subject and a finite verb, and at the same

time structurally alone is known as an f__________ clause 3. The part of a sentence which comprises a finite verb or a verb

phrase and which says something about the subject is grammatically called p_________.

4. A c_________ sentence contains two, or more, clauses, one of which is incorporated into the other.

5. In the complex sentence, the incorporated or subordinate clause

is normally called an e_______ clause.

6. Major lexical categories are o___ categories in the sense that

new words are constantly added.

7. G_________ relations refer to the structural and logical functional relations between every noun phrase and sentence

8. A a__________ sentence consists of a single clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence.

9. A s__________ is a structurally independent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command.

10. A s__________ may be a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence that usually precedes the predicate.

Answers:

1. sentence 2. finite 3. predicate 4. complex 5. embedded 6. open 7. grammatical 8. simple

9. sentence 10. subject

III. There are four given choices for each statement below. Mark

the choice that can best complete the statement: 1 The head of the phrase “the city Rome”is__________ A the city B Rome C city

D the city and Rome

2. A __________ in the embedded clause refers to the introductory word that introduces the embedded clause.

A. coordinator B. particle C. Preposition D. subordinator

3 Phrase structure rules have ____ properties. A. recursive B. grammatical C. social D. functional

4. Phrase structure rules allow us to better understand _____________.

A. how words and phrases form sentences.

B. what constitutes the grammaticality of strings of words C. how people produce and recognize possible sentences D. All of the above.

5 The phrase “on the half” belongs to ________construction A endocentric B exocentric C subordinate D coordinate

6 . The theory of case condition accounts for the fact that __________.

A. noun phrases appear only in subject and object positions. B. noun phrases can be used to modify another noun phrase C. noun phrase can be used in adverbial positions D. noun phrase can be moved to any place if necessary. 7 The sentence structure is ________. A. only linear B. Only hierarchical C. compel

D. both linear and hierarchical

8. The syntactic rules of any language are ____ in number. A. large B. small C. finite D. infinite

9. The ________ rules are the rules that group words and phrases to

form grammatical sentences. A. lexical B. morphological

C. linguistic D. combinational

10 The sentence “They were wanted to remain quiet and not to

expose themselves” is a ____________sentence A simple B coordinate C compound D complex Answers: 1 D

2 D 3. A 4 D 5 B 6 A 7 D 8 C 9 D 10 A IV. Explain the following terms, using examples.

1. Syntax 2. IC analysis

3. Hierarchical structure Answers :

1.Syntax: Syntax refers to the rules governing the way words are

combined to form sentences in a language, or simply, the study of the formation of sentences.

2. IC analysis: Immediate constituent analysis, IC analysis for short, refers to the analysis of a sentence in terms of its immediate constituents – word groups (phrases), which are in turn analyzed into the immediate constituents of their own, and the process goes on until the ultimate sake of convenience.

3. Hierarchical structure: It is the sentence structure that groups

words into structural constituents and shows the syntactic

category of each structural constituent, such as NP, VP and PP. V. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the major types of sentences? Illustrate them with examples.

2. What are endocentric construction and exocentric construction?

3. Draw a tree diagram according to the PS rules to show the deep structure of the sentence:

The child asked for a new book

4. What are the major types of sentences according to traditional approach? Illustrate them with examples ？

Answers :

1. Traditionally, there are three major types of sentences. They

are simple sentence, coordinate( compound) sentence, and complex sentence. A simple sentence consists of a single clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence, for example: John reads extensively. A coordinate sentence contains two clauses joined by a linking word that is called coordinating conjunction, such as \"and\\"but\For example: John is reading a linguistic book, and Mary is preparing for her history exam. A complex sentence contains two, or more, clauses, one of which is incorporated into the other. The two clauses in a complex sentence do not have equal status, one is subordinate to the other. For example: Before John gave her a lecture, Mary showed no interest in linguistics.

2. An endocentric construction is one whose distribution is functionally equivalent, or approaching equivalence, to one of its constituents, which serves as the center, or head, of the whole. A typical example is the three small children with children

as its head. The exocentric construction, opposite to the

first type, is defined negatively as a construction whose distribution is not functionally equivalent to any of its constituents. Prepositional phrasal like on the shelf are typical examples of this type.

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4. Traditionally, there are three major types of sentences. They are

simple sentence, coordinate( compound) sentence, and complex sentence. A simple sentence consists of a single clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence, for example: John reads extensively. A coordinate sentence contains two clauses joined by a linking word that is called coordinating conjunction, such as \"and\\"but\For example: John is reading a linguistic book, and Mary is preparing for her history exam. A complex sentence contains two, or more, clauses, one of which is incorporated into the other. The two clauses in a complex sentence do not have equal status, one is subordinate to the other. For example: Before John gave her a lecture, Mary showed no interest in linguistics.