LGER0087-1 English Linguistics II 2019 (An Van linden)

Model exam (open-book exam) !ALWAYS IDENTIFY THE UNITS UNDER ANALYSIS!

1. What type of event schema is illustrated by clause “You stole my Pinterest board idea.” ?
Motivate your answer, including reference to thematic roles. How does the event schema map
onto clause/construction type, and how do its thematic roles map onto grammatical roles? Use
square brackets to indicate the constituents under analysis, e.g. [I] [saw] [the children].

Action schema (give definition + indicate world of experience), expressed by a transitive

clause
[You] [stole] [my Pinterest board idea]
Thematic roles: Agent Theme
Grammatical roles: Subject Direct object
Force-dynamic roles Energy source Energy sink

How transitive?
Discuss degree of (i) energetic action, (ii) energetic agent, (iii) affectedness of the theme

! Keep in mind that event schemas relate to the main verb of a clause!

2. What type of clause-combining is illustrated in the underlined sentence below? Motivate your
answer, referring to the interpersonal parameters of speech function, modality and scope.

While they were terrorising anyone who climbed into a car, there were 37 assaults and 16 burglaries
– all of which have obviously been cleared up. (WB, sunnow)

Identify primary and secondary clause in example

Values for the three interpersonal parameters point to a relation of free subordination
(1) Speech function:
̶ secondary clause: declarative clause type
̶ test to see whether the declarative signals a particular speech functional value, or is merely
the unmarked option in a context of neutralization (do test: turn secondary clause into
positively biased interrogative)
̶ describe result of the test + conclusion w.r.t. speech functional value in secondary clause
(2) Modal value:
̶ secondary clause: indicative mood
̶ test to see whether the indicative signals a particular modal value, or is merely the
unmarked option in a context of neutralization (do test!)
̶ describe result of the test + conclusion w.r.t. modal value in secondary clause
(3) Scope:
̶ Secondary clause: outside the scope of the interpersonal structure of the primary clause
̶ Tests: can the secondary clause be the focus in it-cleft construction? Or the focus of wh-
interrogative? (do tests!)
̶ describe result of the test + conclusion w.r.t. scope
Refer to the meaning signaled by while in the specific example
3. What type of complex sentence construction is illustrated by the underlined structure in the
example below? Analyse the construction into its component parts (again, use square brackets to
indicate the units under analysis). Discuss the degree of (types of) integration of the complement
clause within the complex sentence.

“At first the men didn’t want me,” says Angalene Kotze, who ran a mining house switchboard before
being certified to analyze rock samples. “They laughed that I would break my nails.” (WB)

Identify reporting clause and reported clause in example

Indirect speech or thought
(1) Syntactic integration:
 reporting clause of indirect speech/thought is obligatorily sentence-initial
 complementizer
 head = reporting clause as a whole, not just the reporting verb only (reporting verb laugh
is intransitive)
(2) Semantic integration
 Speech function of the reported clause
 Deixis of the reported clause: governed by the deictic centre of the ‘current’ speaker

4. The excerpt given below is the transcript of a live football commentary by Alan Green, a BBC
Radio sports commentator, and Robert William Savage, a football expert and former Welsh
professional footballer, broadcast on BBC Radio Five. The transcript has been edited to enhance
comprehensibility, and sentence numbers have been inserted.

Real Madrid versus Manchester United, Madrid, 13th February 2013

GREEN (1) we played nearly six minutes (2) you’re listening to five live from the bee
bee cee (3) Real Madrid nil Manchester united nil here in the Bernabeu
[Stadium] (4) Alonso … drives it in right footed, deep (5) and it’s headed over
the crossbar
SAVAGE (6) Yeh, I thought United, you know (7) the back four were bit too deep then for
the initial free kick (8) they started on the penalty area (9) and drifted towards
the six yard
GREEN / (10) Sergio
SAVAGE / yep
GREEN / Ramos who got
the header in
SAVAGE (11) I think they should start higher line, you know, maybe start on the edge of
the penalty area (12) then drop back to the six yard line, you know, (13) giving
the goalkeeper chance to come and get it
GREEN (14) the ball is played forward by Manchester United (15) Kagawa is onside into
the penalty area (16) and Sergio Ramos d-diverts the ball away (17) and the
goalkeeper prevents a corner (18) concedes only a throw-in (19) Sergio Ramos
looked across to the assistant (20) said ‘where was the flag?’
SAVAGE (21) well I think Kagawa, you know, I think he thought it was offside too
 Football terminology:
crossbar ‘the bar joining the two vertical posts of a goal’
six-yard box ‘an enclosed area inside the penalty area, extending 6 yards (5.5 metres) from
the goal, inside which a goal kick must be taken.’
header ‘an act of hitting the ball with your head’
throw-in ‘the act of throwing the ball back onto the playing field after it has gone
outside the area’
offside ‘a player is offside if he or she is in a position, usually ahead of the ball, that is
not allowed (i.e. between a defender of the opposite team and the goal when
the ball starts its trajectory)’; in such a case, the assistant referee raises his/her
flag.

The teams of the players mentioned:

Sergio Ramos: defender of Real Madrid
Xabi Alonso: midfielder of Real Madrid
Kagawa: attacker of Manchester United

Analyse reference in this extract. Identify all NPs, indicate the type of reference they realize and the
type of retrieval involved. In the case of endophoric retrieval, note down the more specific subtype
of retrieval and the presumed information referred to. Present your analysis in a table with the
following columns: sentence number; NP; reference type; retrieval type; presumed information. You
can leave out you in the discourse marker uses of you know (in Savage’s speech) from your analysis.
Afterwards, explain what the reference and retrieval types used by the two speakers can tell us about
the mode of this text. Do the two speakers’ utterances differ in mode? Motivate your answer.

NP (45 tokens) Reference type Retrieval type Presumed information

1 We pronominal exophoric -
1 nearly six minutes presenting - -
2 you pronominal exophoric -
2 five proper name homophora -
2 the beebeecee proper name homophora -
3 Real Madrid proper name homophora -
3 Manchester united proper name homophora -
3 the bernabeu proper name homophora -
4 Alonso proper name homophora -
4 it pronominal exophoric/bridging (the ball)
5 it pronominal anaphoric it (4) (the ball)
5 the crossbar definite exophoric -
6 I pronominal exophoric -
6 United proper name anaphora Manchester United (3)
7 the back four definite exophoric -
7 the initial free kick definite exophoric -
8 they pronominal anaphoric the back four (7)
8 the penalty area definite Exophoric/bridging [penalty area defended by
Manchester United players]
9 the six yard definite Exophoric/bridging [penalty area defended by
Manchester United players]
10 Sergio Ramos proper name homophora -
 10 the header definite exophora -
11 I pronominal anaphoric I (6)
11 they pronominal anaphoric the back four (7)
11 the edge of the definite esphora the penalty area (8)
penalty area
12 the six yard line definite anaphoric the six yard (9)
13 the goalkeeper definite Exophoric/bridging [ManU’s keeper]
13 chance to … presenting - -
13 (it) pronominal anaphoric it (4) (the ball)
14 the ball definite bridging football match
14 Manchester united proper name anaphora Manchester united (3)
15 Kagawa proper name homophora -
15 the penalty area definite Exophora/bridging [≠ the penalty area (8)]
16 Sergio Ramos proper name anaphora SR (10)
16 the ball definite anaphora the ball (14)
17 the goalkeeper definite exophora/bridging [≠ the goalkeeper (13)]
17 a corner Non-referential (negative context: prevents)
18 a throw-in presenting - -
19 Sergio Ramos proper name anaphora SR (10)
19 the assistant definite exophora -
20 the flag definite bridging the assistant’s flag
21 I pronominal anaphoric I (6)
21 Kagawa proper name anaphora Kagawa (15)
21 I pronominal anaphoric I (6)
21 he pronominal anaphoric Kagawa
21 it Non-referential (ambient it)
21 offside Non-referential (predicate nominal of ambient it)

Green Savage
reference Give frequencies of different types Give frequencies of different types
type
Retrieval Give frequencies of different types Give frequencies of different types
type
Mode (a) distance a channel places between (a) distance a channel places between
language and what it describes language and what it describes

(b) distance the media place between (b) distance the media place between
speaker and hearer: speaker and hearer: