Assignment 14
(Midterm Exam)
Due Monday, Nov. 9 2020

PREAMBLE

Like all assignments in this course, this exam is open book and
cooperative.  Just be sure to write up your conclusions independently.
Do the sections in sequence, because some of them build on each other;
but do not hesitate to go back and revise something if a later section
sheds new light.


I.  There

In this problem you are to investigate the word 'there' in sentences like 

    (1)  There is a fly in the Pope's soup.
    (2)  There emerged a gopher from the hole.
    (3)  There must have arisen a great wave of protest against the sin tax.
    (4)  There may exist very large prime numbers.
    (5)  There was a pig eating my garbage.

This word (which we will call 'there1') must be distinguished from
the adverb 'there0', observed in sentences like

    (6)   The fly will land there.
    (7)   I put it there.
    (8)   There she goes!

One easily observable difference is that 'there0' can be stressed,
and often is, while 'there1' cannot:

    (9)   The fly will land THERE.
    (10) *THERE is a fly in the Pope's soup.

I tell you this only to help you distinguish the two words, because
we are not interested in the adverb 'there0' at all right now.

1.  The first question to consider is: Where exactly does there1 occur?

The following sentences provide relevant evidence:

    (11)  Will there remain many species of fish in the next century?
    (12)  Have there been signs of progress?
    (13)  Is there a gopher in that hole?
    (14) *We sent there to the cleaners.
    (15) *We left a bucket of there on the doorstep.
    (16) *There's monkey went hungry.
    (17)  There was not a lot of room for the elephants.
    (18)  There did emerge one good idea from the discussion.

Based on examples like these, what generalization can you make about where
there1 is found?

2.  A puzzling restriction concerns the category of verbs that can
co-occur with 'there1'.  (Once you have answered question 1, it should
be clear what "cooccur with" means here.  Notice

    (19) *There slept a gopher in the hole.
    (20) *There devised a linguist these questions.
    (21) *There ate a gorilla my sandwich.

Considering the given examples, and any that you make up, try to provide
a complete listing of the verbs that can co-occur with 'there1'.
Come back and revise this list if you discover anything interesting
later.

3. THE QUESTION (amend the grammar)

Now here comes the real question:  How is our grammar to generate 
    
     (1)  There is a fly in the Pope's soup.

and not generate anything ungrammatical?  I want you to consider two
hypotheses:

Hypothesis A: 'there1', like most other words, is inserted into deep
structures, subject to certain lexical insertion restrictions.

Hypothesis B: 'there1' is inserted by a transformation, which derives
sentences like (1) from sentences like

    (22)  A fly is in the Pope's soup.

Under hypothesis B, similar derivations would be proposed for 

    (23)  There emerged a fly from the hole.
    (24)  There arose a disturbance among the students.

and various other things you might think of.


There is a good argument against hypothesis A, and in favor of
hypothesis B, and it is based on the observation that the following
are ungrammatical:

    (25)  *John emerged a fly from the hole.
    (26)  *I arose a disturbance among the students.
    (27)  *There ate my sandwich.
    (28)  *There sleeps.
    (29)  *There arose in the kitchen.
    (30)  *There emerged from the hole in the ground.

Figure out what this argument is, state it clearly, and then state
a formulation of the transformation that is required under hypothesis B.  

Examples (43) and (47) below provide another very good argument.  What is it?

This transformation has some peculiar restrictions.  One is that
the basic subject is subject to certain restrictions:

    (31)  *There emerged the fly from his nose.
    (32)  *There arose the disturbance among the students.

Describe these restrictions as accurately as you can, and tell me how
you think they should be built into the grammar.


4.  The new transformation is called "There Insertion".  The following examples
illustrate how it interacts with Form Rules and the Passive transformation.

    (33)   There is a unicorn in the study.
    (34)  *There are a unicorn in the study.
    (35)   There were two girls eating apples.
    (36)  *There was two girls eating apples.
    (37)  *There were two girls eat apples.
    (38)   There was a girl eating an apple.
    (39)  *There were a girl eating an apple.
    (40)   There was a cat lurking in the yard.
    (41)  *There was a cat lurk in the yard.
    (42)  *There were a cat lurking in the yard.
    (43)   There were six windows broken by random bullets.
    (44)  *There were six windows breaking by random bullets.
    (45)  *There were six windows break by random bullets.
    (46)   There were six windows breaking under the pressure.
    (47)   There is a pig being photographed in the next room.


How is the Passive transformation ordered with respect to the Verb Form rules?
How is There Insertion ordered with respect to the Verb Form rules?
How is There Insertion ordered with respect to the Passive transformation?


II.  Things with 'for' and 'to'

Consider the following sentences:


	(1)  We were ready {for [Bill to return]}.

	(2)  {For [our secret to be found out]} would be embarassing.

	(3)  I would hate {for [you to think I was not hoping for your success]}.

	(4)  An opportunity {for [our plans to be put in motion]} has not arisen.

1.  First, show that the [] things are constituents.

2.  Then, show that the {} things are constituents too.

3.  What are the [] things?  Discuss this thoroughly.

4.  Where are the {} things located?  Is this distribution familiar?

5.  What is 'for'?

6.  What is 'to'?

	As part of your discussion of this, explain the following facts:

	(5)  *We were ready for Bill to will return.

	(6)  For the students to have finished before the professors was not expected.

	Why is 'to' incompatible with 'will' but not with 'have'?

7.  Revise the grammar.


III.  Some Derivations

Show, carefully and completely, how the following sentences are derived
according to our grammar (or if not, say why not, and propose a fix).
Discuss anything that needs to be discussed.


(1)  For there to have been a dead frog found in the soup would have 
     embarrassed the emperor.

(2)  We believe that for students to be given course credit for participation
     in protests would set a bad precedent.

(3)  My uncle's belief that there will be insects found on Mars is
     supported by the fact that there have been insects discovered inside
     volcanoes and under the polar ice.

(4)  Weren't there several students offered jobs by the newspaper?

(5)  They said there would be hard questions asked on this exam,
          and there were.

How does that word "were" get its form?