EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY CYPRUS

ACADEMIC YEAR 2021/2022

LIN200X/LIN211X
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Dr Akis Kechagias

Assignment 1 (20%)

Task details and instructions—READ CAREFULLY

1. Attempt all four tasks and submit your answers by the set deadline via
Blackboard.

2. For this piece of work, you don’t need to provide citation/references.

3. You must not discuss your answers with (or show them to) other students.
4. For the trees you have to draw:

a. You can draw them by hand on a sheet of paper, then take a picture and
insert the image files onto the word document you are working on
(recommended option).

b. You can do it by inserting lines on Office Word or any similar word

processor (ShapesàLines).

c. You can do it using online syntax tree generators like RsyntaxTree and
phpsyntaxtree or by downloading and installing Treeform, a cross-platform
syntax tree drawing software in Java.

d. It is your responsibility to check that your trees are OK before you

submit your work. Double-check for missing or displaced branches
or/and labels. It is also recommended that you convert your .doc files
into .pdf before you submit. Make also sure that your trees are
displayed clearly on the computer screen. Please don’t make them
too small or faint as I won’t be able to see the details.

________________________________
TASK 1 (20 MARKS)

In the following extract identify the grammatical class of the ten underlined words
indicating their subcategory as appropriate/necessary (i.e., lexical/functional,
open/closed, transitive/intransitive etc.) Your answers MUST include reference to
grammatical and distributional evidence in support of your verdict.

e.g influence=Is a count noun. It is a noun as it inflects for number (influence-

influences), it is preceded by the determiner ‘the’ which is also a property of nouns,
and also, it can appear in the subject position in a sentence (e.g. the influence was
great), another property typical of nouns.

Vocationally, linguistics can have applications wherever language itself

becomes a matter of practical concern1, as it does in fields ranging from
education to medicine to public policy. The influence of linguistic theory is
now evident virtually2 everywhere in language education, from the structure
of a grade-school reader to a business ''immersion course'' in Japanese or
French. It has3 also had far reaching effects on4 the way in which first- and
second-language skills are taught. Linguistics has benefited from the growth
of computer science, in answer both to a practical5 interest in developing6
computational systems that can deal7 with language in various8 ways, and
a theoretical interest in the relation between natural and artificial languages.
One9 result of this collaboration has been the creation of career
opportunities for linguists in the private sector; another has been the
creation of new degree programs and10 research centers aimed at
integrating work in linguistics, computer science, logic, and related fields.

TASK 2 (20 MARKS)

The underlined strings of words in the sentences below ARE constituents. For each
string, apply TWO tests that would prove that. While you can use any diagnostics
you want, try to be creative and use the whole range of tests in yours answers.

a. Very few people would give their friends their car.

b. We expected they would wait for their friends after the lecture.

c. I’m reading our dean’s report of the meeting.

d. They can watch the game with their friends from England.

e. I will probably need a new car in May.

 [5 X 4 marks=20]

TASK 3 (40 MARKS)

Draw labelled trees for the following three sentences.

a. Very few people would give their partners a second chance

immediately.
(Tree=12 marks)

b. Every resident should have rather bought a considerably bigger

house.
(Tree=12 marks)

c. The very lovely tourists from Japan watched the game at the
local pub with their friends from England.
(Tree=16 marks)

TASK 2 (20 MARKS)

The sentence below is structurally ambiguous. After you explain what the ambiguity
is—using appropriate paraphrases (4 marks)— and why it arises (4 marks), illustrate
how this ambiguity can be accounted for using labelled tree diagrams (12 marks). Be
as explicit as possible.

The goalkeeper hit the player with the ball.