Assignment 5

Read Hankamer & Sag, "Deep and Surface Anaphora".  That is posted,
we assert.

In reading it, bear in mind that it was written in the 70's (before
you were born).  Some things have changed.  But the central concerns
have remained relevant.

A couple of notions that have changed a bit but have always remained
interesting:

	The concept of (c-)command:

	A node A c-commands a node B iff
		(a)	A does not dominate B
	and	(b)	A's mother dominates B

Draw some trees and see what c-commands what.  Does the subject of a
sentence (in surface structure) c-command the VP?  Does a V c-command
its direct object?  In "the puppy with a waggly tail", does the D 'the'
c-command the DP "a waggly tail"?

Another concept from that time is the Backward Anaphora Constraint (BAC).
Essentially, it said that an anaphor could not both precede and command
its antecedent.  We might be able to improve on that, but that is up to
you.

Your assignment is first to read the Hankamer & Sag paper, taking careful
note of what you understand and what you don't understand (especially the
latter).  Be ready to ask questions and have discussions during the
coming week.

Make an inventory of the anaphoric processes ("phenomena" might be a better
word) discussed in the paper.  For each of those processes, find out the
answer to the following questions:

	1.  Can it go backward?
	2.  Is it bounded?
	3.  Does it obey island constraints?

You don't have to write this up.  The class on Friday will be devoted
to a discussion of Sluicing, which is one of the phenomena in that list.
Pay special attention to that one, and if you don't think you understand
it, make sure you have plenty of intelligent questions.

Your other assignment is to turn in the progress report on your term paper.
This, in addition to at least one fact and at least one question,
should feature at least one hypothesis.