Ling 10 June 18, 2002

Mid-Term Exam Study Guide

Your mid-term will be held on Tuesday, June 25 at 5:30pm. You should know/be able to do the following:

  1. Know the 11 grammatical categories we discussed in class. Know the names and definitions, and be able to state to which word classes each is relevant.
  2. Be able to state how each of these grammatical categories is expressed in English (see Brinton Ch. 5).
  3. Be able to define "category test", "inflectional test", and "distributional test". Be able to give an example of each.
  4. If given a specific category test and a set of sentences, be able to apply the test to the data to determine which words or phrases belong to the category in question.
  5. Be able to write some simple phrases structure rules for English and supply grammatical sentences to illustrate each.
  6. Be able to define "constituency test".
  7. If given a specific constituency test and a set of data, be able to apply the test to the sentences and identify the constituents in question.
  8. Be able to draw simple tree diagrams (with labels).
  9. If given a structurally ambiguous noun phrase, be able to provide both possible structures and explain the possible interpretations.
  10. Be able to define, or recognize the definitions of, the terms given in all handouts.
  11. Be able to describe (briefly) why the people listed at the end of the 'History of English' handout were/are important in the standardization of English.
  12. Be able to describe the difference between 'prescriptive' and 'descriptive' grammar.
  13. Be able to list at least three prescriptive grammar rules which originated in the 18th century.
  14. If given sentences containing misplaced modifiers, dangling participles, split infinitives, faulty comparisons, or non-parallel constructions, be able to fix the problem according to modern prescriptive norms.