English Linguistics - Assignment 6 James Madison University

1. Using the phrase structure rules in your text (many are on page 147), draw tree diagrams for each of the following sentences:
   1. The rooster crowed.
   2. The cooks spoiled the broth.
   3. The man on the moon watched the spectacle.
   4. My silly friend believes that dogs can talk.
   [Give this your best shot. Note that "my" is a determiner, "that" is a complementizer (C), and "can" is an Aux. :) ]
2. Ask a friend (a native speaker of English, please) to describe all the subgroupings of words that he/she thinks go together in the c and d sentences above. Don't tell your friend any rules or make suggestions; just write down what he or she says. Do your friend's intuitions match with the groupings made by the phrase structure rules?
3. Find a naturally-occurring example, written or spoken, of a structurally ambiguous sentence (These come up all the time, even in The Breeze. :)The description of structural ambiguity is in the text, and here's an example: He read the words on the bathroom floor.), Now answer the following questions about your sentence:
   1. What are the logically possible interpretations of this sentence?
   2. What constituent is the source of the ambiguity?
   3. Was it possible, in context, to choose one meaning over the other(s)? If so, why?
   4. Find two willing friends and do the following: read your sentence to the first volunteer without providing any additional linguistic or situational context, and ask that person to tell you what the sentence means. Next, read the sentence to the second volunteer either with the sentences that came just before and after it or with your own description of the context in which the sentence was used. Ask this person the same question. How do the responses you receive to this question relate to your answer to 4c?

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