Intended meaning: I like their approach.
Here are the instructions for the Windows version of the grammar tools in this set of exercises; the instructions for the Mac version are built into the grammar tool as a menu item (the Windows version doesn't let me do that, unfortunately). Once again, some words are being saved under unexpected names...
| Adjunction, rightward | Only one-step works, for reasons that are beyond me. Drag adjunct to target of adjunction while holding down Shift. |
| Adjunction, leftward | Only two-step works, for reasons that are beyond me.
1. Clone target of adjunction: Choose scissors and click on target of adjunction while holding down Alt. 2. Attach adjunct: Drag adjunct onto higher clone while holding down Shift+Alt. |
| Subject movement, verb raising | Drag the appropriate constituent (DP, V) while holding down Alt. |
| Tense lowering | Drag the appropriate constituent (I) while holding down Shift+Alt. |
A. Using the grammar tool in English case assignment (Mac | Windows), build structures for the sentences in (1).
For the purposes of this exercise, disregard tense lowering.
| (1) | a. | I waited for her. | |
| b. | I waited for there to be a sale. | ||
| c. | It would be convenient for the parents for daycare to be available. | ||
| d. | It would be convenient for daycare to be available for the children. | ||
| e. | I suspect the class to be difficult. |
B. Describe briefly how each of the DPs in (1) receives case. Feel free to collapse the description of similar cases (!) of case assignment.
| (1) | a. | * | I like them the approach. Intended meaning: I like their approach. |
| b. |
|
A. Using the grammar tool in English case assignment (Mac | Windows), build structures for the noun phrases in (1) and (2).
| (1) | a. | ok | the destruction of the city | (the city receives oblique case) |
| b. | ok | the city's destruction | (the city receives possessive case) | |
| (2) | * | the destruction the city |
B. Based on the structures you built in (A), derive the grammaticality contrast between (1) and (2) in terms of case assignment.
C. Why is (3) ungrammatical in English?
| (3) | * | the city destruction Intended meaning: 'the city's destruction' |
D. Using the grammar tool in English case assignment (Mac | Windows), build structures for the phrases in (4).
| (4) | a. | ok | fond of the children |
| b. | * | fond the children |
E. Derive the grammaticality contrast in (4) in terms of case assignment. Explicitly indicate which case is assigned to the children in (4a), how you know which case is assigned, and which head assigns it.
| (1) | a. | des Englischen unkundig the.gen English ignorant 'ignorant of English' | |
| b. | der Regierung treu the.dat government loyal 'loyal to the government' |
B. In German, case assignment to noun phrases within larger noun
phrases has undergone change and continues to be subject to variation. The
pattern in (2a) was typical of Early New High German
| (2) | a. | Early New High German | der Stadt Zerstörung the.gen city destruction 'the city's destruction | |
| b. | Modern German, formal | die Zerstörung der Stadt the.nom destruction the.gen city 'the destruction of the city' | ||
| c. | Modern German, colloquial | die Zerstörung von der Stadt the.nom destruction from the.dat city 'the destruction of the city' |
C. Based on your answer to (B), what are the changes in case assignment that have taken/are taking place in German? Your answer should include by which heads and in which configuration which case is assigned to the DP der Stadt.
D. Based on your answers to this exercise and to Exercise 5.3, compare the way that DPs in adjective and noun phrases receive case in English and German. Again, your answer should include by which heads and in which configurations which case is assigned in comparable examples in the two languages.
| (1) | a. | Gwelai Emrys ddraig. see.conditional Emrys.nom dragon.obl 'Emrys would see a dragon.' | |
| b. | Disgwyliodd Emrys i Megan fynd i Fangor. expected Emrys.nom to Megan.obl go.infinitive to Bangor.obl 'Emrys expected Megan to go to Bangor.' |
B. How are each of the noun phrases in (1) assigned case? (As in English, nominative case cannot be assigned in nonfinite clauses in Welsh.) Your answer should include which case is assigned by which heads in which licensing configuration.
C. Proto-Indo-European is reconstructed as having had rich agreement, and so it presumably had verb raising. The Celtic languages, which are descendants of Proto-Indo-European and to which Welsh belongs, have lost agreement, yet they still exhibit verb raising. Why didn't the loss of agreement lead to the loss of verb raising in Celtic as it did in Mainland Scandinavian?
| (1) | a. | I disapprove of Kim impulsively hiring incompetents. | |
| b. | I'm concerned about there not being time for dinner. | ||
| c. | I watched them running down the street. | ||
| (2) | a. | % | Kim impulsively hiring incompetents has got to stop. |
| b. | % | There not being time for dinner is unfortunate. | |
| c. | % | Them running down the street is quite a sight. |