Note: The status of noun phrases as NP or DP is not at issue in this exercise. The reason that noun phrases are represented as NPs in (1) is that the structure in (1) is presumably motivated by a desire to represent sentences as projections of the lexical category V. A concomitant desire to maintain cross-categorial parallelism between sentences and noun phrases would then motivate the representation of noun phrases as projections of N.
| (1) |
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A. Using the grammar tool in generalized X' theory, build structures for the following sentences.
| (2) | a. | He claims that the owner will hire him. | |
| b. | I have investigated the claim that they are following him. | ||
| c. | She must be happy that they hired her. |
B. "Translate" the sentences in (2) into Engshil. Recall that Engshil is just like English, except that all of its lexical categories are head-final.
C. "Translate" the sentences in (2) into another imaginary variant of English in which lexical categories are head-initial, just as in ordinary English, but functional categories are head-final.
| (3) | a. | He returned home after the war ended. | |
| b. | He returned home after the war. | ||
| c. | * | He returned home after. | |
| (4) | a. | Nobody broke in although they were gone for a week. | |
| b. | * | Nobody broke in although their week-long absence. | |
| (5) | a. | I came because I like you. | |
| b. | I came because of you. | ||
| c. | * | I came because you. | |
| d. | * | I came because. | |
| (6) | a. | He had never been abroad before the war started. | |
| b. | He had never been abroad before the war. | ||
| c. | He had never been abroad before. | ||
| (7) | a. | * | Nobody broke in despite they were gone for a week. |
| b. | Nobody broke in despite their week-long absence. | ||
| (8) | a. | * | The burglars broke in during they were gone. |
| b. | The burglars broke in during their absence | ||
| c. | * | The burglars broke in during. | |
| (9) | a. | They differ in that they don't share the same interests. | |
| b. | * | They differ in they don't share the same interests. | |
| c. | They differ in their interests. | ||
| (10) | a. | Winston tastes good like a cigarette should. | |
| b. | Actually, this cigarette tastes like crap. | ||
| (11) | a. | They haven't gotten a lot of sleep since their baby was born. | |
| b. | They haven't gotten a lot of sleep since their baby's birth. | ||
| c. | They haven't gotten a lot of sleep since. | ||
| (12) | a. | The burglars broke in while they were gone. | |
| b. | * | The burglars broke in while their absence. | |
| c. | * | The burglars broke in while. |
B. On the basis of (A) and the following data from German, compare the syntactic behavior of after, before, during, and while with that of their German translation equivalents.
| (13) | a. | Bevor / nachdem du kommst, räumen
wir auf. before / after you come clean we up 'Before/after you come, we'll clean up.' | |
| b. | * | Bevor / nachdem deiner Ankunft räumen
wir auf. before / after your arrival clean we up Intended meaning: 'Before/after your arrival, we'll clean up.' | |
| c. | * | Bevor / nachdem räumen wir auf. before / after clean we up Intended meaning: 'Beforehand/afterwards, we'll clean up.' | |
| (14) | a. | * | Vor / nach du kommst, räumen wir auf. before / after you come clean we up Intended meaning: 'Before/after you come, we'll clean up' |
| b. | Vor / nach deiner Ankunft räumen wir auf. before / after your arrival clean we up 'Before/after your arrival, we'll clean up.' | ||
| c. | * | Vor / nach räumen wir auf. before / after clean we up Intended meaning: 'Beforehand/afterwards, we'll clean up.' | |
| (15) | a. | Während wir Studenten sind, verreisen wir. while/during we students are travel we 'While we are students, we travel.' | |
| b. | Während des Sommers verreisen wir. while/during the summer travel we 'During the summer, we travel.' | ||
| c. | * | Während verreisen wir. while/during travel we Intended meaning: 'During some unspecified time period, we travel.' |
| (16) | { my, your, his, her, our, their } book |
| (17) | This is definitely one of them jobs, man, if you're one of them
worriers … (Construction worker in conversation at Bessie's lunch truck, 34th and Walnut, Philadelphia, PA, 31 August 1999.) |