Intro to Linguistics
Autumn 2010
Syntax Homework 2
Due Wednesday, November 3
1. Turkish phrase structure rules (70 points)
1.1 Write phrase structure rules below that describe the following Turkish sentences. (12 points;
3 each)
a. Benim ensevdigim halamin
develeri var
my
favorite
father’s.sister camels exist
‘My favorite (paternal) aunt owns camels.’
b. Sersem maymun bana vurdu
silly
monkey me hit
‘The silly monkey hit me.’
c. Pinar isten sonra dukkana gitti
Pinar work after store
went
‘Pinar went to the store after work.’
d. Erkek kardesim tavuk istiyor
male my.sibling chicken wants
‘My brother wants a chicken.’
NP 
VP 
PP 
S 
1.2 Draw phrase structure trees for the sentences repeated below. Make sure that these
correspond with the rules you wrote in 1.1. (10 points; 5 each)
a. Benim ensevdigim halamin develeri var
b. Erkek kardesim tavuk istiyor
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Intro to Linguistics
Autumn 2010
1.3 Do the rules you wrote in 1.1 predict any types of sentences that we don’t see in the
examples above? If so, identify one or more questions you might ask of a cooperative
Turkish speaker to test whether your rules are correct; make sure to explain what their
possible answers would tell you. If not, explain how you can be sure that your rules don’t
generate any additional sentence types. (10 points)
1.4 These rules are based on only 4 Turkish sentences; this small data set leaves many syntactic
phenomena unexplored. Based on class discussions of English and other languages (or points
raised in the textbook), identify an additional aspect of phrase structure that would be an easy
‘next step’ for investigation. Give a specific question that you could ask a Turkish speaker,
and an explanation of how a phrase structure rule (or rules) might change, based on a
possible answer. (10 points)
choose a simple addition to the data set! Something like “where do embedded clauses
go and how are they structured?” is probably too complex – there are too many possible answers,
and these could add/modify all kinds of rules. Think about the things that we included in English
phrase structure rules.
NOTE: Please
1.5 Consider the following additional sentence:
Murat alimli
Murat charming
‘Murat is charming.’
a. Does this sentence follow the phrase structure rules you wrote in 1.1? Why or why not?
(8 points, including below)
If not, modify one or more rules so that this sentence is allowed.
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Intro to Linguistics
Autumn 2010
b. Draw a phrase structure tree for Murat alimli that obeys your rules from 1.1 plus any
modifications you made above. (4 points)
1.6 a. The two sentences below have slightly different meanings. Draw a phrase structure tree
for each; make sure that these trees differ in a way that corresponds with the meaning
difference. These trees don’t have to match your rules from 1.1 perfectly anymore; if you
need to do anything different, though, try to make small, basically plausible changes. (10
points; 5 each)
HINT:
Consider the phrase structure trees corresponding to the English meanings.
Ayse sapkayla maymunu gidikladi
Ayse hat.WITH monkey tickled
Ayse sapkali maymunu gidikladi
Ayse hat.INST monkey tickled
‘Ayse tickled the monkey with (wearing) the hat.’
‘Ayse tickled the monkey with (using) the hat.’
b. Explain how the difference between your trees corresponds to the difference in meaning.
Be specific and use examples! (6 points)
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Intro to Linguistics
Autumn 2010
2. Turkish questions (30 points)
2.1 Consider the following Turkish questions:
Bana kim vurdu
me who hit
‘Who hit me?’
Sersem maymun kime vurdu
silly
monkey whom hit
‘Who(m) did the silly monkey hit?’
a. These questions are closely related to one of the statements in 1.1. Draw a phrase
structure tree for that statement here. (8 points)
b. Describe, generally and very precisely, how WH questions in Turkish differ from
declarative statements. Your answer should be no more than four relatively short
sentences! (12 points)
2.2 Finally, consider one more Turkish question:
Erkek kardesim tavuk mu istiyor
male my.sibling chicken Q wants
‘Does my brother want a chicken?’
Assuming this is representative data, write a general rule for turning a Turkish statement into
a YES-NO question. Again, your answer should be no more than four short sentences! (10
points)
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