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Show that the grammar in (23) can account for the ambiguity of each of the following
sentences by providing at least two trees licensed for each one, and explain briefly which
interpretation goes with which tree:
(i) Bo saw the group with the telescope.
(ii) Most dogs and cats with fleas live in this neighborhood.
(iii) The pictures show Superman and Lois Lane and Wonder Woman.
[Note: We haven’t provided a lexicon, so technically, (23) doesn’t generate any of these.
You can assume, however, that all the words in them are in the lexicon, with the obvious
category assignments.]
The Chapter 3 grammar declares AGR to be a feature appropriate for the types noun,
verb, and det, but so far we haven’t discussed agreement involving determiners. Unlike
the determiner the, most other English determiners do show agreement with the nouns
they combine with:
(i) a bird/*a birds
(ii) this bird/*this birds
(iii) that bird/*that birds
(iv) these birds/*these bird
(v) those birds/*those bird
(vi) many birds/*many bird
A. Formulate lexical entries for this and these.
B. Modify Head-Specifier Rule 2 so that it enforces agreement between the noun and
the determiner just like Head-Specifier Rule 1 enforces agreement between the NP
and the VP.
C. Draw a tree for the NP these birds. Show the value for all features of every node
and use tags to indicate the effects of any identities that the grammar (including
your modified HSR2 and the Head Feature Principle) requires.
Chapter 3, Problem 5: Identifying the Head of a Phrase
The head of a phrase is the element inside the phrase whose properties determine the
distribution of that phrase, i.e. the environments in which it can occur. We say that
nouns head noun phrases, since (ii)-(v) can all show up in the same environments as (i):
e.g. as the specifier of a verb, as a complement of a transitive verb and as the complement
of prepositions like of or on.
(i) giraffes
(ii) tall giraffes
(iii) giraffes with long necks
(iv) all giraffes
(v) all tall giraffes with long necks
On the other hand (vi)–(ix) do not have the same distribution as the phrases in (i)–(v).
(vi) tall
(vii) with long necks
(viii) all
(ix) all tall
Thus it appears to be the noun in (i)–(v) that defines the distributional properties of the
whole phrase, and it is the noun that we call the head.
In this problem we apply this criterion for identifying heads to a domain that is off the
beaten path of grammatical analysis: English number names.1 The goal of this problem
is to identify the head in expressions like two hundred and three hundred. That is, which
is the head of two hundred: two or hundred? In order to answer this, we are going to
compare the distribution of two hundred with that of two minimally different phrases:
three hundred and two thousand.
Now, many environments that allow two hundred also allow three hundred and two
thousand:
(x) There were two hundred/three hundred/two thousand.
(xi) Two hundred/three hundred/two thousand penguins waddled by.
Some environments do distinguish between them, however. One such environment is the
environment to the right of the word thousand:
(xii) four thousand two hundred
(xiii) four thousand three hundred
(xiv)*four thousand two thousand
A. Based on the data in (xii)–(xiv), which phrase has the same distribution as two
hundred: three hundred or two thousand?
B. Does your answer to part (A) support treating two or hundred as the head of two
hundred? Explain your answer in a sentence or two.
Similarly, we can compare the distribution of two hundred five to the two minimally
different phrases two hundred six and two thousand five. Once again, the environment to
the right of thousand will do:
(xv) four thousand two hundred five
(xvi) four thousand two hundred six
(xvii)*four thousand two thousand five
C. Based on the data in (xv)–(xvii), which phrase has the same distribution as two
hundred five: two hundred six or two thousand five?
D. Does your answer to part (C) support treating five as the head of two hundred five?
Briefly explain why
Footnotes
This problem is based on the analysis of English number names in Smith 1999. ↩
