Assignment Sample on QXL4411 Morphology and Syntax

Answer 1

(a)

The: Article

Boy: Noun

Said: Verb

That:

The: article

Old: Adjective

Man: Noun

Went: Verb

To: Preposition

The: Article

Shops: Noun

(b)

The boy said that the old man went to the shops.

NP: The boy

NP: The old man

VP: Said that

VP: Went to

PP: Went to the shops

(c)

(S (NP The boy)

(VP said

(SBAR that

(S (NP the old man)

(VP went

(PP to

(NP the shops))))))

.)

(d)

Phrase structure rules are usually of the following form:

A → B C

meaning that the constituent A is separated into the two subconstituents B and C. Some examples for English are as follows:

S → NP VP

NP →  (Det) N₁

N₁ → (AP) N₁ (PP)

The first rule reads: A S (sentence) consists of a NP (noun phrase) followed by a VP (verb phrase). The second rule reads: A noun phrase consists of an optional Det (determiner) followed by a N (noun). The third rule means that a N (noun) can be preceded by an optional AP (adjective phrase) and followed by an optional PP (prepositional phrase). The round brackets indicate optional constituents.

(e)

By replacing the non terminal PP phrase we can kep on extending the sentence infinitely.

Answer 2

Which morpheme denotes:

1. plural : ko
2. your (singular): lux
3. your (plural): tu
4. his: be
5. our: du

What do the following Bangorian words mean?

1. koneebe: his houses
2. kobisofedu: his town
3. koneetu: your houses
4. bisofetu: you town
5. kofiketu: your cars

1. Is Bangorian an analytic or synthetic language? Why?

It is a synthetic language as it adds morphemes to the ords in order to indicate grammatical relations ships rather than using syntaxes of unbound morphemes.

Answer 3

a.

Walked: Remains a verb but denoted past tense

Walker: Changes it to a noun

b.

-ed is a inflectional morphology

-er is a derivational morphology

c.

-ing inflectional

-able derivational