Modern Grammar - ASSIGNMENT 19 James Madison University

Instructions: This assignment will be marked as an acceptable or unacceptable effort.

1. Diagram each of the following sentences:
   
   1. We heard the university is cancelling all exams on Monday. (structurally ambiguous -- based on the possible attachments of the PP. Draw both options.)
   2. Honestly, they might have preferred for the media to ignore their activities.
   3. For a fish to have a pet would be wierd.
   4. She is afraid that her feet are growing larger.
   5. The singer must face the fact that he will not hit that high note.
   6. That the squeaky wheel will get the grease is well-known.
   7. The librarian had a secret fear that his brain might be getting full.
   8. Living in a tree would not be fun.
   9. After we left, someone turned off the lights.
   10. The apple fell to the ground without making a sound when the winds started blowing.
   11. Many customers complained that the food was bland and overcooked.
2. The "Existential-There" we discussed as a one-word word class earlier this semester is used only in a type of sentence construction formed by a "transformation". (Shockingly enough, this construction is named the "existential-there" construction. :) ) An example of such a construction is "There is a mouse in my house." For this example, what do you think the original sentence would have been before the transformation?
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3. Can you figure out the different between two similar "transformations": Read the textbook's discussions of the "preposing" (also called "topicalization") and "inversion" constructions (both of which result from transformations of unmarked sentences built from phrase structure rules). Then attempt to label each of the sentences below as either an example of preposing (P) or an example of inversion (I). No diagramming needed here!
   1. After the storm comes the rainbow.
   2. Old horses, the thrifty ranchers usually shoot.
   3. The last three pieces, we saved for the children.
   4. Throughout the night, the storm raged.
   5. Out the window went all his money.
   6. There goes the neighborhood!
4. Finally, here's something we else can't diagram with our phrase structure rules. Look at the following sentence carefully and then try to underline the parts that are causing the complication:
   My dog, Spot, thinks John, our neighbor, is afraid of Clarissa, our pet snake.