Modern Grammar - Assignment 15 James Madison University

Instructions: Find the answer to each of the questions below. You may decide for yourself whether or not to use the LLAMA-Syntax program. If you use it, remember to set the parser to parse an NP instead of an S for the first set of examples! Also [The assignment will be marked only as an acceptable or unacceptable effort.]

1. Now, here's some practice with identifying phrase structures and representing these structures in phrase structure trees: See the handout HERE to find information on how intermediate structure is handled in noun phrases in the most basic cases, and then attempt to build the correct tree structures for the following noun phrases. Note that to add a line over an N in LLAMA-Syntax, you should just type the dash key immediately after the N.
   1. Angelina
   2. her computer
   3. a friend
   4. that habit
   5. that
   6. himself
   7. bees
   8. both problems
   9. much happiness
   10. this moment
   11. a special friend
   12. that irritating little habit
   13. my house by the shore
   14. nobody
   15. angry bees
   16. both small problems
   17. several of the wonderful musicians
   18. all the pretty little horses
   19. the damaged corner on that portrait of their family
   20. us
   21. it
   22. twenty
   23. all




2. Next, here are some prepositional phrases (PPs) for you to try diagramming:
   
   1. at the movies
   2. of the dark
   3. without much effort
   4. beneath them




3. Now, try to draw the correct tree structures for the following sentences, and list the phrase structure rules needed to build each tree. For sentences with verbs using VP rules you haven't used before, a VP rule is provided.
   
   1. Many birds landed.
   2. Zeus appeared.
   3. Bats flew into this castle.
   4. That novel is a bestseller. (VP --> V NP)
   5. The zoo gave an armadillo to each child. (VP --> V NP PP)
   6. Aliens took us to their planet.(same VP rule as in the previous sentence)
   7. No man is an island.
   8. The talented instructor offered the awkward dancer free lessons. (Notice that this is your first sentence that builds a VP out a V followed by TWO separate NPs -- an indirect object and a direct object respectively. What rule should you use for this one?)
   9. Gertrude loves her unusual name.
4. Finally, looking again the sentences above, which two contain an example of a "recipient" semantic role?