The Syntax Workbook

A Companion to Carnie's Syntax

Andrew Carnie

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781119569282
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Sprachen & Linguistik
• Subtopic: Syntax in der Linguistik

A valuable companion to Andrew Carnie's Syntax: A Generative Introduction, 4th Edition, full of practice questions and engaging exercises to promote student comprehension

Syntax: A Generative Introduction, Fourth Edition, ?is the leading textbook for undergraduate courses in the syntax, covering foundational topics such as universal grammar, parts of speech, constituency, trees, structural relations, binding theory, x-bar theory, and movement, as well as advanced subjects such as control theory, ellipsis, polysynthesis, incorporation, non-configurationality, ?and ?Merge. Written by Syntax author Andrew Carnie, The Syntax Workbook has been purposefully designed to support and complement the use of Syntax in the undergraduate classroom. The Syntax Workbook ?is the perfect companion?to the author's seminal textbook and contains updated practice material for every section of the text. This workbook: ?

• Includes exercises, practice questions, data analysis, and knowledge application questions for each section in Syntax: A Generative Introduction, Fourth Edition
• Features exercises and questions with full answers and explanations to assist students in learning to apply theory to practice?
• Has been authored by leading figure in syntax Andrew Carnie to support classroom usage of Syntax: A Generative Introduction, Fourth Edition?
• Works in concert with a student companion website, offering a robust selection of learning tools for the classroom?

Ideal for undergraduate courses in syntax, ? Syntax: A Generative Introduction, Fourth Edition, and The Syntax Workbook, Second Edition, together offer a perfect combination of thorough coverage and valuable practice. The workbook can be purchased on its own or in a set with the textbook.?

Available as a set with Syntax: A Generative Introduction, 4th Edition

Part 1
Preliminaries

Chapter 1
Generative Grammar

WORKBOOK EXERCISES

WBE1. PRESCRIPTIVE RULES

[Critical Thinking; Basic]

Part 1: All of the sentences below are prescriptively “wrong” according to many so-called language experts. Can you identify what’s supposed to be wrong with them (i.e., what prescriptive rule do they violate?). If you’re not familiar with prescriptive rules you may have to search around on the Web a bit to figure this out, but if you’ve been trained to write in the American or British University tradition, most (or many) of these should stand out as “poor grammar” or “poor style”. Certainly, Microsoft Word’s grammar- checking program is flagging many of these sentences as I write them!

1. What did you put the present in?
2. She’s smarter than him.
3. To boldly go where no one has gone before!
4. He walks too slow.
5. Hopefully, the weather will turn sunny soon.
6. I found out something which will disturb you greatly.
7. Who did you see?
8. I can’t hardly sleep.
9. 10 items or less [a sign above a register in the grocery store]
10. My view of grammar is different than yours.
11. I will not enjoy it.
12. If I was a linguist, then I wouldn’t have to study prescriptive rules.
13. The homework wasn’t done completely.
14. All of the linguists at the conference congratulated each other.
15. Me and John are going to the movies later.
16. I want to learn a new language like French.

Part 2: Consider each of the sentences above and evaluate whether or not they are really unacceptable for you. Try to ignore what you were taught in school was right and focus instead on whether you might actually utter one of these sentences, or if you’d actually blink if you heard one of them produced by someone else. Listen to your inner voice rather than relying on what you have learned is “correct”.

WBE2. SCIENTIFIC METHOD PRACTICE¹

[Critical Thinking Practice; Basic]

Background: One particular kind of question in English is called a “Yes/No question”. These questions can typically be answered with either Yes, No, or Maybe. The standard strategy for forming Yes/No questions is to change the order of the words at the beginning of the sentence from the equivalent statement:

1. Grizelda hasn’t eaten anything. Statement
2. Hasn’t Grizelda eaten anything? Yes/No qu...