Syntax I Final Exam Due Monday March 16 As is the case with all assignments in this course, you may collaborate on figuring out the answers; as always, write up your response individually. I. Figuring out some verbs (and adjectives) We now have at least four kinds of infinitival constructions: (a) Subject-Subject Control (want, expect, like, hate ...) (b) Subject-to-Subject Raising (seem, appear, tend, ...) (c) Subject-to-Object Raising (want, expect, believe, ...) (d) Object-Subject Control (persuade, tell, force, ...) (e) Other (There might be something we haven't seen yet.) The verbs and adjectives below all fit into one or more of the above constructions: be going: The pig is going to get dirty. refuse: My cat refuses to eat canned tuna. need: There needs to be another screw in the base of it. assume: There are assumed to be 187 kinds of spiders. find: The truths in question were found to be self-evident. advise: Applicants were advised to submit complete dossiers. have7: You have choices to make. have8: You have to make choices. use5: There used to be a better road to that place. For each verb or adjective, figure out (by appropriate testing) whether its construction (DS and Derivation) is of type (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e). Give evidence, and show a sample derivation. A caution: The three parts of this exam are of roughly equal weight, so don't spend so much time on any part (especially this first one) that you force yourself to skimp on another part. For example, you should be able to adequately discuss each of these predicates in a page or less. II. An Easy Problem, and a Harder One 1. An EASY Problem (1) For Harry to acquire those frogs will be { easy } . { hard } { difficult } { tough } (2) It will be { easy } for Harry to acquire those frogs. { hard } { difficult } { tough } (3) To acquire those frogs will be { easy } for Harry. { hard } { difficult } { tough } (4) It will be { easy } to acquire those frogs. { hard } { difficult } { tough } Provide reasonable analyses for a sample of these sentences. Discuss as thoroughly as necessary. Make sure you think about Theta-roles. 2. A HARD PROBLEM The adjectives 'hard' and 'easy' are interesting. They can appear in some of the same structures as ordinary adjectives, like 'rectangular': (5) The brick was hard. (6) The test was easy. (7) The building was rectangular. But they can also appear in structures where ordinary adjectives cannot: (9) Louise inserted the brick into the hole. (10) *Louise inserted into the hole. (11) The brick was hard to insert into the hole. (12) The brick was easy to insert into the hole. (13) *The brick was rectangular to insert into the hole. There must be something special about these adjectives. Let's investigate them: (16) The socks were easy to put on. (18) The stone was hard to lift. (21) The stone was hard for Louise to lift. (24) Betty was easy for Fred to talk to. (25) It will not be easy for the gerbils to get out of the cage. (26) The cage will not be easy for the gerbils to get out of. Before you decide on an analysis for 'hard' and 'easy', notice the following: (28) To put the socks on the gorilla was easy. (30) It was hard to put the socks on the gorilla. (42) Tabs will be hard to keep on Betty. (44) *Tabs will be ready to keep on Betty. In the above examples, be careful to note the meaning differences. In all of the examples, think about the Theta-roles assigned by the Verbs and Adjectives. If you can discern those accurately, it will guide your analysis. Now the problem, of course, is to propose an analysis (i.e. assumed deep structures and derivations, including the precise characterization of any transformations involved) to generate the grammatical sentences and account for all the differences in grammaticality and interpretation. III. READY Adjectives like 'hard' and 'ready' occur in some of the same environments as ordinary adjectives like 'long': (1) The exam was hard. (2) The exam was ready. (3) The exam was long. But they can also appear in structures where ordinary adjectives can't: (4) The exam was hard to put under the door. (5) The exam was ready to put under the door. (6) *The exam was long to put under the door. There are grammatical sentences which are like (6) except that they involve 'too': (7) The exam was too thick to put under the door. Ignore sentences containing the word 'too'; we will not be dealing with them here. Maybe in Syntax 2. 'Hard' and 'ready' can occur in some of the same structures, but not all. Note the difference in interpretation of those structures in which they can both occur: (8) It was hard to make the decision. (9) It was ready to make the decision. Note that (9) is grammatical if the decision is about to be made by a very large gorilla of unknown gender. (10) The socks were hard to put on. (11) It was hard to put on the socks. (12) The socks were ready to put on. (13) It was ready to put on the socks. The gorilla again. (14) The socks were ready for the gorilla to put on. (15) The socks were ready to put on the gorilla. (16) The socks were hard for the gorilla to put on. (17) The socks were hard to put on the gorilla. Also note the ambiguity in (18) but lack of ambiguity in (19): (18) The turkey is ready to eat. (19) The turkey is hard to eat. Finally, notice that in sentences which involve the verbs 'spit', 'drop', and 'put', the adjectives 'ready' and 'hard' give rise to different combinations of meaning and ambiguity: (20) a. The muskrat was ready to spit into the hole. b. The muskrat was ready to drop into the hole. c. The muskrat was ready to put into the hole. (21) a. The muskrat was hard to spit into the hole. b. The muskrat was hard to drop into the hole. c. The muskrat was hard to put into the hole. The problem is to propose an analysis for 'ready' which accounts for how it differs from 'hard'. Hint: you will find they behave differently with idiom chunks. Explain why 'Harvey' and 'him' cannot be coreferent in (22): (22) Harvey is going to be hard to persuade to be ready to paint him blue. IV. Strictly optional: Can you say anything intelligent about (1)? (1) The kids stopped being hard to get ready to send to school when they learned to tie their own shoes.