Download TEST 1 KEY - English and American Studies at Sofia University

TEST1KEY:
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Question1. Findandcommentonatleastthreeinstancesofverbalstemallomorphyinthefirst
twoparagraphs.
RichardWalkerha-sbeentryingtoconquerageingsincehewasa26-year-oldfree-
lovinghippie.Itwasthe1960s,aneramarkedbyyouth:VietnamWarprotests,
psychedelicdrugs,sexualrevolutions.TheyoungWalkerrelishedthecultureof
exultation,ofjoiedevivre,andyetwasalsoacutelyawareofitspassing.Hewas
hauntedbytheknowledgethatageingwoul-deventuallystealawayhisvitality–
thatwitheachpassingdayhisbodywasslightlylessrobust,slightlymoredecayed.
Oneeveninghewen(-)tforadriveinhisconvertibleandvowedthatbyhis40th
birthday,hewouldfindacureforageing.
Walkerbe-cameascientisttounderstandwhyhewasmortal.“Certainlyitwasn’t
duetooriginalsinandpunishmentbyGod,asIwastaugh-tbynunsincatechism,”
hesay-s.“No,itwastheresultofabiologicalprocess,andthereforeiscontrolledby
amechanismthatwecanunderstand.”Scientistshavepublishedseveralhundred
theoriesofageing,andhavetiedittoawidevarietyofbiologicalprocesses.Butno
oneyetunderstandshowtointegrateallofthisdisparateinformation.
SEEUNDERLINEDFORMSABOVE.Theexamplesfeaturestemallomorphy,i.e.different
shapesofthestemofalexeme,inthepresent(e.g.say-s/ha-s)orthepasttense(taugh-t)
(sub-)paradigm.Therearealsoinstancesofsuppletion,whichcanbeviewedasanextreme
caseofallomorphy,wherethetwostemsdon’thaveanysimilarityinformwhatsoever,
sincetheycomefromoriginallydifferentlexemes(e.g.be-was,go-went–esp.commonwith
frequentverbssuchas‘be’and‘go’).Thepasttense/preteritebecameisaspecialcaseof
morphophonemicalternationwherethechangeoftherootvowel(ablaut)markstense(a
strong/irregularverb).Intheotherforms,thededicated(pastorpresent)stemallomorph
isaccompaniedbyapastsuffixora3sgpresentsuffix.
Question2. Inthefirsttwosentencesofthefirstparagraph,findthreewordswhichcontain
differentstressedbackmonophthongsandtranscribethemphonemically.
Notethatthethreewordsmustcontaindifferentstressedvowels.BothBritish(RP)and
American(GA)pronunciationvariantsareacceptable(butnot“mixed”variants).
Wordscontainingstressedbackmonophthongs:
WalkerRP/wɔːkǝ/GA/wɔːkǝr/,/wɑːkǝr/
warRP/wɔː/,GA/wɔːr/
conquerRP/kɒŋkǝ/,GA/kɑːŋkǝr/
markedRP/mɑːkt/GA/mɑːrkt/
youthRP,GA/juːƟ/
revolutionsRP,GA/revǝluːʃǝnz/,/revǝljuːʃǝnz/(ortherespectivevariantswitha
syllabicn̩ ) Question3. Indicateallsuppletiveformsinthe4thparagraphanddescribethephenomenonof
suppletion.Giveyourownexampleofsuppletion.
Thesuppletiveformsinpar.4are:is,was,best,are(inthetextitiscontracted,e.g.we’re)
andwent.Suppletiontakesplacewhenthesyntaxrequiresaformofalexemethatisnot
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morphologicallypredictable.Inotherwords,suppletionoccurswhenaformthatismissing
fromaninflectionalparadigmisreplacedbyaformwithadifferentroot.Forinstance,the
formwentexistsalongsidetheformsgo,goes,going,gone.Othersuppletiveforms,in
additiontothoseinthetext,areworseandworstthatexistalongsidebad.
Medium
Question4. Compareanddiscussthefollowingtwophrasesfromthepointofviewoftheir
semantics,morphologyandsyntax:itspassing(paragraph1)andpunishmentbyGod
(paragraph2).
TheheadnounsofbothNPsarenominalisationsoforiginallyverballexemesderivedwith
thederivationalsuffixes–ingand–mentrespectively.Thegenitivedeterminerinthefirst
NPisanexampleofasubjectgenitivewhichwouldcorrespondtotheSubjectinaclause“It
passed/passes”(intransitive).In‘punishmentbyGod’,thesamerelationshipisexpressed
byapost-posedPPcomplement,sotherelationshipisnolongerexpressedbymorphology
(genitivecaseending)butbysyntax(functionword).Thisrepresentsamajorshiftfrom
synthetictoanalyticalinthehistoryofEnglish(=BONUSPOINT).Semantically,‘God’isan
agentintheparaphrase“Godpunisheds.o.’(transitive),but‘it’isnotanagentin‘it
passed/passes’,astheverbdenotesaprocess,notanaction.
Question5. Inparagraph1,findatleastonecontent(appositive)that-clauseandinacoupleof
sentencesexplainhowitdiffersintermsofsemanticsandsyntaxfromrelativethat-
clauses.
RichardWalkerhasbeentryingtoconquerageingsincehewasa26-year-oldfree-loving
hippie.Itwasthe1960s,aneramarkedbyyouth:VietnamWarprotests,psychedelicdrugs,
sexualrevolutions.TheyoungWalkerrelishedthecultureofexultation,ofjoiedevivre,and
yetwasalsoacutelyawareofitspassing.Hewashauntedbytheknowledgethatageing
wouldeventuallystealawayhisvitality–thatwitheachpassingdayhisbodywasslightly
lessrobust,slightlymoredecayed.Oneeveninghewentforadriveinhisconvertibleand
vowedthatbyhis40thbirthday,hewouldfindacureforageing.
Theunderlinedsequencerepresentstwoappositive(content)clauses,coordinated
asyndetically.Therearenoobviousstructuraldifferencesbetweenthethreetypesof
clausesbutappositive(content)clausesdifferfrombothrelativeandnominalclausesin
meaningandfunction.Theyarelikerelativeclausesinthattheyattachtoanantecedent
(preceding)nounbutunlikemodifyingrelativeclauseswhichdeterminethereferenceof
theantecedentnoun(defining/restrictiverelativeclauses)oraddspecifying,non-essential
informationtothereferentofthenounphrase(non-defining/non-restrictiverelative
clauses),appositiveclausesspecifythesenseoftheantecedentnoun.Theyrevealfeatures
ofthesemanticvolumeoftheheadnoun.Unlikenominalclausestheycannotontheirown
performnominalclausefunctions(subjectoranykindofobjectorpredicativecomplement)
andareintroducedintosentencestructurebyasemanticallyrestrictedsetofheadnouns
(e.g.plan,idea,suggestion,knowledge,etc.).Unlikerelativethatclauses,contentclausesfunction
ascomplementstotheheadnounswhichlicensethem.
Question6. Discussthegenitivemeaningsexpressedinthefollowingnounphrases:thegirls’DNA
(par.3),awoman’sovaries(par.4)andhislife’swork(par.4).Giveappropriate
sententialorphrasalanaloguesofeachphrase.
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Thephrasesthegirls’DNAandawoman’sovariescanbeappropriatelydiscussedas
examplesofthepartitivegenitive,whichexpressespartofthewhole.Thus,theunderlying
structuresofthetwophraseswillbe:‘theDNAwhichispartofthegirls’(thegirlshave
DNA)and‘theovariesthatarepartofawoman’(awomanhasovaries).Thesetwophrases
aresimilartophraseslikethebaby’seyesorthegirl’shairthataregoodexamplesofthe
partitivegenitive.AlltheseexamplesdifferfromphraseslikeMary’sbagormyfather’scar,
wherethegenitivemeaningisclearlypossession.
Thephraseawoman’sovariesallowsforanotherinterpretationthatisnotentirely
impossible,i.e.itcouldbediscussedasanexampleofthedescriptive(qualitative)
genitive,wheretheunderlyingstructureshouldbe‘ovariesliketheovariesofawoman’.In
thisinterpretationitissimilartophraseslikeachild’splayoralion’sheart,whichclearly
exemplifythedescriptivegenitive.Still,itisthereadingsuggestedabovethatappearstobe
moreplausiblewiththephraseinquestion.
Astohislife’swork,itcanbeexplainedas‘theworktowhichhedevotedhislife’,‘thework
thatoccupiedhislife’or‘theworkhedidthroughouthislife’.Hence,itcouldbeviewedas
anexampleofthegenitiveoftemporalmeasureoreventhedescriptivegenitive.
Challenging
Question7.
DiscussthesyntacticandinformationstructureofthesentencebeginningwithWhen
Walkerbeganhisscientificcareer,…inparagraph4,thenrelatethosetotextual
function(s).
a.WhenWalkerbeganhisscientificcareer(SAdjunct:wh-temporalclause),he(Subj:Pron)
focused(Pred:Finite)onthefemalereproductivesystem(Obj:prepPhrase)asamodelof
“pureageing”(Adj:PrepPh):awoman’sovaries,evenintheabsenceofanydisease,slowlybut
inevitablyslideintothethroesofmenopause(S:Np+AdjCicr:PrepPh+AdjCirc:AdvPh+
Pred:Fin+AdjPlace:PrepPh).
b.WhenWalkerbeganhisscientificcareer(TextualTheme,PartiallyMarked;TimeCircum),
he(TopicalTh)focusedonthefemalereproductivesystemasamodelof“pureageing”
(Rheme):awoman’sovaries(TopicalTh),evenintheabsenceofanydisease,slowlybut
inevitablyslideintothethroesofmenopause(Rh).
c.E.g.
ThesentencebeginswithWhenWalkerbeganhisscientificcareer,…asparagraph2is
dedicatedthematicallytothebeginningofWalker’scareerandinterestinageing,while
paragraph3dealswiththelaterstagesofthatcareerandthatinterest.Toconnectthenew
paragraph(i.e.par4)backtopar.2(ortobothpar.2andpar.3),thesentence’spointof
departure(duetothegeneralgoalofthediscourse)isinformationwhichisalreadygiven/
presentinearlierpartsofthetext.Therefore,theSentADjappearsfirstinthesentencein
orderforthetextproducertoconnectthenewsentenceto‘old’,‘previous’,or‘given’
information.ThefunctionoftheSentAdjunct,thus,istheoneofaTextualTheme.Itisa
PartiallyMarkedTheme(AdjunctTheme;CircumstancesofTime)asthesentencedoesnot
beginwithaTopicThemeexpressedbytheSubject,whichwouldhavebeenthedefault
situation.
Theuseofthecolonbetweenthetwoindependentclausessuggeststhesecondclauseis
directlyrelatedtothefirstonebutanotherpossible,andmorevalid,interpretationisthat
thecolonisusedtolayemphasis,andthusfocus,onthesecondclause,turningitintoasort
ofaRhematicstructureinitself.Withinthesecondclause(afterthecolon),thethematic
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arrangementsuggeststhekeyimportanceofthelastRhematicelements(i.e.slideintothe
throesofmenopause),whichappearafteradoubleuseofstructuresdedicatedtocircumstantial
information(i.e.slowlyandinevitably,andevenintheabsenceofanydisease).Inthisway,
first,themostimportantinformationalbitsarepostponedaslongaspossible,whichcreates
aclearsenseof‘focus’and‘suspense’inthetext.Second,thetechniqueallowsthetext
producertofulfilltheexperientialfunctionofthetextandunfolditspossibilitiesfully.
Question8. Analysethefollowingstructuresfromparagraph3:Walker,now74,andarare
diseasethatdoesn’tevenhavearealname,“SyndromeX”.Contrastthemintermsof
internalconstituencyandfunctionwithintheunitsthatcontainthem.Commenton
thedifferencesbetweenappositionandmodification.
Bothstructuresarenounphrases.Walker,now74,functionsastheSubjectoftheclause,
whileararediseasethatdoesn’tevenhavearealname,“SyndromeX”isacomplementtoa
prepositioninaprepositionalphrase.Thefirstoneisaclauseconstituent,theseconda
phraseone,i.e.theyfunctionatdifferentlevelsoftherankscale.
TheinternalconstituencyoftheNPWalker,now74,includesapropernounfollowedbya
non-restrictivereducedrelativeclausewhichresultsinanumeralphrase.Huddlestonand
Pullum(2005:97)considernow74afusedheadconstruction.Thishoweverdoesnotmake
thewholestructureappositive.
Theinternalconstituencyofararediseasethatdoesn’tevenhavearealname,“SyndromeX”
involvesadeterminer(theindefinitearticlea),apremodifier(theadjectiverare),thehead
noun(thecommon,countnoundisease),adefining/restrictivethat-relativeclause,where
therelativepronounperformsthefunctionofSubjectinthesubordinateclauseandan
appositiveNPwiththelastnounintherelativeclause(name)asantecedent.
Thebasicdifferencebetweenmodificationandappositionisthattheformerexemplifies
hypotacticrelations,whilethelatterparatacticrelations.Inapposition,thesecondNP
identifiesthesamereferentinadifferentway.Modificationisarelationshipof
subordinationofonegrammaticalelementtoanother.Withinendocentricphrases
modifiersencodedifferentpropertiesofthehead.Inappositiontherelationshipofequality
canbeclearlyillustratedbythepossibilitytochooseeitheroftheNPsastheonlyoneina
clausewithoutdisruptingthemeaningofthewhole,e.g.TheyinvitedmeandmywifeSusan
toaparty.=Theyinvitedmeandmywifetoaparty.=TheyinvitedmeandSusantoa
party.
Question9.
Discussthesyntacticbehaviouranddistributionofalltheadjectivesyoucanfindinparagraph1.
Group the adjectives according to the their function and use and comment on possible
classificationsandcriteriaforthese.
The list of adjectives in the first paragraph comprises: a26-year-old free-lovinghippie;
markedbyyouth;psychedelicdrugs,sexualrevolutions;theyoungWalker;acutely
aware;hauntedby;passingday;slightlylessrobust,slightlymoredecayed;
convertible.
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Threegroupsofadjectivescanbeformedonthebasisoftheirsyntacticfunctionwithinthe
unitcontainingthem:1)attributive-26-year-old,free-lovinghippie;markedbyyouth,
psychedelicdrugs,sexualrevolutions,youngWalker;2)predicativе–yetwasalso
acutelyaware,hisbodywasslightlylessrobust,slightlymoredecayedand3)a
substantivisedadjectivefunctioningasanounheadwithinanNP.
ThefirstgroupfunctionaspremodifiersinanNP.Theydifferintermsoftheirmorphological
andsyntacticmakeup(somearesimpleheads–e.g.psychedelic,sexual,etc.;whileothersare
headsofexpandedAdj.phrases–e.g.markedbyyouth),buttheyareallpartsofNPsandhavea
modifyingfunction.Thesecondgroupareadjectivesusedontheirownasclauseconstituents.
TheyfunctionasCsandareintroducedbylinkverbs.Thesetwousesareknownasattributive
andpredicativeuse,respectively,whichcorrespondstotwoprototypicalpatternsofsyntactic
behaviourofadjectivesthatrunparalleltotwobasictypesofsyntacticrelations–modification
andcomplementation,respectively.Adjectivescanoccurbeforeanounandfunctionas
premodifiersinanNPortheycanappearindependentlyaspredicativecomplementsrelatingto
thesubject(Cs)incopular/linksentencesorafteradirectobjectincomplextransitiveclauses
(functioningasCo).
AthirduseofadjectivesinEnglishisrelatedtothephenomenonofsubstantivisationasisthecase
withthethirdgroupinparagraph1-convertible.
MostadjectivesintheEnglishlanguagecanbeusedbothattributivelyandpredicatively,even
thoughtherearerestrictionswithsemanticandsyntacticconsequences.However,someadjectives
canonlybeusedintheattributiveposition.Adjectivessuchaslive,mere,elder,little,andsheerare
someexamplesforthistypeofadjectives.
Thisshopdoesn’tsellliveanimals.(Animalsthatarestillalive)
Helivesinalittlehouse.(Ahousethatissmall)
Imethiseldersister.(Sisterwhoisolder)
Predicativeadjectivesaretheadjectivesthatoccurafteralinkverb(functioningasCs),
Someadjectivesonlyoccurinthepredicativeposition.Adjectivesthattendtobeusedexclusively
predicatively tend to have a participial origin. Some of them can be recognised by a no-longer
synchronicallyrecognisableprefixa-.
Thehousewasablaze.;Shewasalone.;Hefeltthatsomethingwasamiss.;Shewasutterlybereft.
The central differences between the two basic uses of adjectives run parallel to the differences
betweenmodificationandcomplementationinlanguage.
Besidesthedifferencesdescribedabove,inrelationtotheirpositionregardingtheheadofaunit
containingthem,adjectivescanbegroupedintopremodifyingandpostmodifying(qualifying)ones.
In the set paragraph one adjective is postpositioned within the matrix NP – marked. Besides
contributingdifferentkindsofproperties(prepositionedadjectivestendtoassignmoreinherent
orpermanentcharacteristicsofthereferentoftheheadnoun,whilepostpositionedonesusually
add transient or less closely associated with the referent properties), prepositioned and
postpositionedadjectivesdifferintermsofthekindsofmodificationtheytoleratewithintheirown
phrases. Prepositioned ones do not favour postmodification (e.g. markedbyyouth vs. psychedelic
drugs).
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