Assignment 10: Yes-No Questions


1.  Consider the following sentences:

(1)   Will the farmer feed the pigs?
(2)   Have the pigs eaten the corn?
(3)   Is the farmer feeding the pigs?
(4)   Has the farmer been feeding the pigs?
(5)   Should the farmer have been feeding the pigs?
(6)  *Should have the farmer been feeding the pigs?
(7)  *Should have been the farmer feeding the pigs?
(8)  *Should have been feeding the farmer the pigs?
(9)  *Has been the farmer feeding the pigs?
(10) *Feeding the farmer should have been the pigs?
(11) *Fed the farmers the pigs?
(12) *Ate the pigs the corn?
(13)  Did the pigs eat the corn?

Notice that these are questions that can be answered yes or no.  We will call 
these sentences yes-no questions.  To get a feel for them, make up a few more.
Use as many different verbs as you can.

Our current grammar does not generate yes-no questions.  Briefly explain why.


2.  Can you describe clearly, in plain English, how to form a yes-no question,
given the affirmative sentence?


3.  Revise the phrase structure rules so that they generate yes-no questions
as well as simple declarative sentences.  Don't let them generate anything
ungrammatical.


4.  All YNQs can be viewed as consisting of three pieces:

	A + B + C

Looking at YNQs this way,

	(a) What can you say about the things that are found in position A?

	(b) What can you say about the things that are found in position B?

	(c) What can you say about the things that are found in position C?


5.  If you have done all the preceding sections carefully and well, you will have
realized that there is something very weird about this assignment.  What is it?