Syntax - Chapter 5

Question 1

Meaning of “grammatical”

Answer 1

Native speakers judge it to be a possible sentence of their language

Question 2

Two ways to approach syntax in contemporary linguistics

Answer 2

1) Descriptive Syntax
2) Formal Syntax

Question 3

Merge operation vs Move operation

Answer 3

Merge: Combines words to create larger phrases and sentences
Move: Carries an element to a new position within the structure

Question 4

Syntactic Categories

Answer 4

Lexical categories
- Noun
- Verb
- Adjective
- Preposition
- Adverb

Question 5

Non-Lexical/Functional categories

Answer 5

Determiner (Det)
Auxiliary verb
Conjunction
Degree word (deg)

Question 6

Inflection

Answer 6

Nouns: Plural - s (books)
Posessive - ‘s (John’s)
Verb: Past tense -ed (arrived)
Progressive - ing (arriving)
Third person singular -s (arrives)
Adjective: Compartive - er (taller)
Superlative - est (tallest)

Question 7

Distribution

Answer 7

Noun - occurrence with a determiner
Verb - occurrence with an auxiliary
Adjective - occurrence with a degree word

Question 8

Phrase structure