Linguistics Midterm Exam

10 questions -10 points for each question

Morphology:

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a. cats
→ cat + s
cat: free morpheme
-s: bound morpheme / suffix / inflectional affix

b. unhappy
→ un + happy
un-: bound morpheme / prefix / derivational affix
happy: free morpheme

c. rejoin
→ re + join
re-: bound morpheme / prefix / derivational affix
join: free morphemes

d. catsup
→ catsup: free morpheme (no affix)

e. milder
→ mild + er
mild: free morpheme
er: bound morpheme / suffix / inflectional affix

f. hateful
→ hate + ful
hate: free morpheme
-ful: bound morpheme / suffix / derivational affix

g. succotash
→ succotash: free morpheme (no affix)

h. bicycle
→ bi + cycle
bi-: bound morpheme / prefix / derivational affix
cycle: free morpheme

i. greedy
→ greed + -y
greed: free morpheme
-y: bound morpheme / suffix / derivational affix
 j. entrust
→ en + trust
en-: bound morpheme / prefix / derivational affix
trust: free morpheme

k. signpost
→ sign + post
sign: free morpheme
post: free morpheme

l. spacious
→ space + ious
space: free morpheme
-ious: bound morpheme / suffix / derivational affix

2. In each group of words that follows two words have the same morphological structure,
one has a different suffix from those two, and one has no suffix at all. Your task is to tell
which two words have the same suffix, which one has a different suffix, and which has no
suffix at all. Having done this, tell the meaning of each suffix (You may find that they become
more difficult as you go along.)

Example:
rider -er is a derivational suffix meaning ‘one who…’
colder -er is an inflectional suffix marking the comparative
silver There is no suffix
smoker This is the same -er as in rider

a. nicer → -er is an inflectional suffix marking the comparative

painter → -er is a derivational suffix meaning ‘one who…’
runner → This is the same -er as in painter
feather → There is no suffix

b. intolerant → in- is an derivational prefix meaning ‘without’

intelligent → There is no prefix
inflame → in- is an derivational prefix meaning ‘from within’
incomplete → This is the same in- as in intolerant

c. friendly → -ly is an derivational suffix making a noun into an adjective

sadly → -ly is an derivational suffix making an adjective into an adverb
softly → This is the same -ly as in softly
silly → There is no suffix

d. sons → -s is an inflectional suffix marking plural

lens → There is no suffix
vans → This is the same -s as in sons.
runs → -s is an inflectional suffix marking 3rd person singular present
 e. youngster → -er is an derivational suffix meaning ‘people in a certain group.’
faster → -er is an inflectional suffix marking the comparative
monster → There is no suffix
gangster → This is the same -er as in youngster.

f. wrestling → -ling is an derivational suffix making the verb into a noun

handling → This is the same -ling as in wrestling.
fling → There is no suffix
duckling → -ling is an derivational suffix meaning ‘ animals’ babies’

g. nifty → There is no suffix

ducky → -y is an derivational suffix meaning ‘something or someone is
adorable’
thrifty → -y is an derivational suffix making the noun into an adjective
lucky → This is the same -y as in thrifty.

h. given → -en is an inflectional suffix marking the past participle

maven → There is no suffix
wooden → -en is an derivational suffix making the noun into an adjective,
meaning 'something is made of wood.’
taken → This is the same -en as in given.

3. For each of the following words of English, tell what the root is and the process through
which the word was formed. (If you’re not sure what the root word is, give what you think is
the most basic form of the word.)
a. bound → bind
b. toenail → toe / nail
c. carries → carry
d. were → be
e. undomesticated → domestic
f. discover → cover
g. mama → mater / matr
h. mice → mouse
i. ladybug → lady / bug
j. rang → ring

Syntax

4. In each of the following pairs of sentences, the underlined expression is an argument in

one sentence, but an adjunct in the other. Figure out in which sentence it is an argument and
in which sentence it is an adjunct. Provide evidence for each answer, citing the relevant
properties of adjuncts and arguments.

a. Yesterday was a great day. → argument

(if we take ‘yesterday’ out of the sentence, then the whole sentence will be
grammatically incorrect.)
Sally had a great day yesterday. → adjunct
(if we take ‘yesterday’ out of the sentence, it is still grammatically correct.)
 b. Polly seemed excited about her new job. → argument
(if we take ‘excited about her new job’ out of the sentence, then the whole
sentence will be grammatically incorrect.)
Bob’s roommate, excited about her new job, got up at 6 A.M. on Monday.
→ adjunct
(if we take ‘excited about her new job’ out of the sentence, it is still
grammatically correct.)

c. The book on the shelf is very dusty. → adjunct

(if we take ‘on the shelf’ out of the sentence, it is still grammatically correct.)
Sally put the book on the shelf. → argument
(if we take ‘on the shelf’ out of the sentence, then the whole sentence will be
grammatically incorrect.)

d. To study French is something Sally always wanted to do. → argument

(if we take ‘to study French’ out of the sentence, then the whole sentence will
be grammatically incorrect.)
Sally went to Paris to study French. → adjunct
(if we take ‘to study French’ out of the sentence, it is still grammatically
correct.)

5. Use the constituency tests to break up each of the following sentences into its syntactic
constituents. Determine which phrasal expressions are constituents in each sentence. If the
results you get from different constituency tests are inconsistent, use your best judgment in
deciding whether something is a constituent or not.

a. Leslie said it rained.

(Leslie) [(said) (it rained)].
Test 1: Who said it rained? Leslie. ✔
Test 2: It was Leslie that said it rained. ✔
Test 3: She said it rained. ✔
Test 1: What did Leslie do? Said it rained.
Test 2: It was it rained that Leslie said.
Test 3: Leslie said so. ✔
→ constituents: Leslie / said / it rained. ✅

b. The girl persuaded Polly to come along.

(The girl) [(persuaded) (Polly) (to come along)].
Test 1: Who persuaded Polly to come along? The girl. ✔
Test 2: It was the girl that persuaded Polly to come along. ✔
Test 3: She persuaded Polly to come along. ✔
Test 1: What did the girl do? Persuaded Polly to come along. ✔
Test 2: It was Polly to come along that the girl persuaded.
Test 3: The girl persuaded it. ✔
→ constituents: The girl / persuaded / Polly to come along. ✅
 c. Sally mailed a card to Polly.
(Sally) [(mailed) (a card) (to Polly)].
Test 1: Who mailed a card to Polly? Sally. ✔
Test 2: It was Sally that mailed a card to Polly. ✔
Test 3: She mailed a card to Polly. ✔
Test 1: What did Sally mail to Polly? A card. ✔
Test 2: It was a card that Sally mailed to Polly. ✔
Test 3: Sally mailed it to Polly. ✔

Test 1: Who did Sally mail to ? Polly. ✔

Test 2: It was Polly that Sally mailed a card to. ✔
Test 3: Sally mailed a card to him. ✔
Test 1: What did Sally do? mailed a card to Polly. ✔
Test 2: It was a card to Polly that Sally mailed. ✔
Test 3: Sally did so. ✔
→ constituents: Sally / mailed / a card / to Polly. ✅

d. Polly saw Bob with Sally.

(Polly) (saw) [(Bob) (with Sally)].
Test 1: Who saw Bob with Sally? Polly ✔
Test 2: It was Polly that saw Bob with Sally. ✔
Test 3: He saw Bob with Sally. ✔
Test 1: What did Polly saw? Bob with Sally ✔
Test 2: It was Bob with Sally that saw. ✔

Test 3: Polly saw that. ✔

→ constituents: Polly / saw / Bob with Sally. ✅

6. For each underlined expression below, say which syntactic category it belongs to and give
one piece of evidence supporting your answer.

a. My sister is a college student. → determiner

(occur to the left of the noun to form a NP)

b. This girl in my class always wears black. → prepositional phrase

(can be a VP or an N adjunct; consists of a
preposition and its NP complement)

c. I like that band. → determiner

(occur to the left of the noun to form a NP)
 d. I like that. → noun phrase
(has the same distribution as a personal
pronoun or a proper name)

e. Sally texted Bob last night. → transitive verb

(need a NP to form a VP)

f. I got an email from Sally. → preposition

(combine with an NP to form a PP)

g. Sally sent me a long email. → adjective / N / N adjuncts

(adjectives combine with nouns to form an
expression of category N)

h. Sally sent me a long email. → noun phrase

(has the same distribution as a personal
pronoun or a proper name)

i. Sally rides her bike fast → verb phrase

(consists minimally of a verb and all its
complements; combines with an NP to its
left which results in the sentence.)

j. Sally rides her bike fast. → adverb / VP / VP adjuncts

(VPs with or without adjuncts have the
same distribution. Therefore, adverbs
combine with a VP to form an expression
of category VP)

k. The writing of her latest novel took more time than anticipated.
→ noun phrase (has the same distribution as a personal pronoun or a proper name)

7. The following sentence is structurally ambiguous. Construct/Draw two phrase structure

trees to show that the string of words in question corresponds to two distinct sentences.

a. Sally called her friend from France.

Semantics

8. In what way is each of the following pairs of words related? In cases of hyponymy,
indicate which word is the hyponym and which word is the hypernym; in cases of antonymy,
tell what kind of antonymy is.

a. shallow deep → antonymy → gradable

b. apple banana → hyponymy → sister term

hypernym: fruit / hyponym: apple and banana

c. suite sweet → Homophony

d. table furniture → hyponymy

hypernym: furniture / hyponym: table

e. unmarried married → antonymy → complementary

f. study studying → free morpheme / free morpheme + bound morpheme

(inflectional)

g. move run → hyponymy

hypernym: move / hyponym: run

h. sofa couch → Synonymy

i. green blue → hyponymy → sister term

hypernym: color / hyponym: green and blue

j. punch touch → hyponymy

hypernym: touch / hyponym: punch

9. Consider the English prefix un- that attaches to form such verbs as the following:
unwrap
undress
untangle
unlock
unwind
uncoil

Which type of antonym does un- create? Explain your answer.

un- creates the antonyms of reverse. Since reverses are pairs of words that suggest some
kind of movement, where one word in the pair suggests movement that "undoes" the
movement suggested by the other.
10. Consider the English prefix in- that attaches to form adjectives as the following:
intolerant
inelegant
inhospitable
incredible
insecure
insincere

Which type of the antonym does in- create? Explain your answer.
in- creates the antonyms of gradable. Since gradable antonyms tend to be relative, in that
they do not represent an absolute value.

*Bonus question (+10): Your feedback or comment during the journey of Linguistics.
Thanks for your great participation!

I found Linguistics quite interesting throughout the classes. I especially love the atmosphere
when all of us (professors, TA, and all of the students) pop out questions and ideas, making
classes more interactive. Weekly summary for each topics also helps me to think it all over
and to organize my thought more clearly. All in all, I really enjoy the class and I am really
looking forward to the following topics!

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