Jonah Bossewitch	LIN 213

November 22, 1995	Professor Maggie Browning

Problem Set #4

I.

1. This sentence is lexically ambiguous:

The (baseball) bat came flying through the window.

The (mammalian) bat came flying through the window.

2. This sentence is structurally ambiguous:

He [said (quote) [he would go to NY on Friday]].

He [said (agreed) he would go [to NY on Friday]].

3. This sentence is structurally ambiguous:

[Stupid [jokes and puns]]...

[Stupid jokes] and [puns]...

4. This sentence is structurally ambiguous:

Professors are always [boring [people]].

Professors are always [boring people].

5. This sentence is lexically ambiguous:

The long drill (exercise) was boring (dull).

The long drill (mechanical tool) was boring (making a hole).

II.

A.

1. Only grammatical phrases can undergo movement so:

a. John [ran [up a huge hill]] -> Up a huge hill John ran. is a grammatical change, but

b. * John [ran up [a huge bill]] -> Up a huge bill John ran. is not (ran 'goes with' up)

2. VP-adverbial must attach to a VP node, not a V-node. (p. 97)

a. Pandas [live [entirely [off bamboo shoots]]]. (the off 'goes with' the bamboo shoots)

b. * Bad weather [kills [entirely off [bamboo shoots]]]. (the off 'goes with' the kills)

B.

3. Shared constituent coordination is only possible where the shared string is a possible	constituent of each of the conjuncts. (p. 78) In it's expanded form the sentence reads:

Your mother won't put up with your disgusting behavior and your wife is fed up with	your disgusting behavior.

Since [up with your disgusting behavior] is not a constituent in either conjunct (up 'goes with' the verbs), sentence B3 is ungrammatical.

C.

4.	Mary doesn't like [her coffee] [with cream].

5.	John doesn't know [the people [with nametags]]

6.	In (4) the verb is followed by 2 separate constituents while in (5) the verb is followed by 1 phrasal constituent (which happens to have an embedded phrase).

7.	In order to support the constituent structures shown above I would need evidence that "her coffee" is a phrasal constituent, "with cream" is a phrasal constituent, "her coffee with cream" is not a phrasal constituent, "the people" is not a phrasal constituent, and "the people with nametags" is a phrasal constituent. This support will come in the form of the empirical tests outlined in Radford.

8.	Movement-

Her coffee, Mary doesn't like with cream.

With cream, Mary doesn't like her coffee.

* Her coffee with cream, Mary doesn't like.

The people with nametags, John doesn't know.

* The people, John doesn't know, with nametags.

*	With nametags, John doesn't know the people.

Sentence Fragments-

How does Mary dislike her coffee? With cream

What does Mary dislike? (*?) Her coffee with cream

Which people does John know? The people with nametags

Which people does John know? * With nametags

Ordinary Coordination-

Mary doesn't like her coffee with cream or sugar.

John doesn't know the people with nametags or the platypuses with hats.

* John doesn't know the people with nametags or hats.

Pronominalization-

Mary doesn't like her coffee with cream, nor does she like it with sugar.

John doesn't know the people with nametag, and Sue doesn't know them either.

Ellipsis- Only operates on VP-phrases, not the ones in question.

These tests support the structures in (4) and (5).