LG514 Syntactic Theory

LG514 Syntactic Theory
Question
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Task:
1. English Movement (Diagramming; trees)

Draw the trees for the following sentences, taking into consideration head-to-head movement, wh-movement and the structure of multiple auxiliaries. You can use triangles for all DPs.

i. Who thinks that it is likely that Wayne will design the painting?
ii. Where will Orhan buy the food for Savi?
iii. Wanye asked why Rosa thought that Jack tripped.
iv. What do you think Harry cooked for dinner?

2. Irish complementisers and wh-movement (Data Analysis; 300-words)

Irish has several complementizers for different sorts of clauses. The declarative C is go/gur, while the yes/no question C is an. The wh-question C is aL (where the superscript indicates a phonological mutation on the following word), which we assume occurs whenever there is a [+WH] feature on its specifier, i.e. aL appears when a wh-phrase (or its trace) is its specifier. Consider the data from Irish below. In (1) a wh-DP raises from an embedded clause to the matrix [Spec, CP]. Note the number and position of the aL complementizers in the (b) examples. 

3. Discussion and argumentation (1000 words)

In this class we have focused on generative syntax, popularised and heavily influenced by the work of Noam Chomsky. For this question please write a short essay of no more than 1000-words on ONE of the following topics.

A. Choose a particular syntactic phenomenon (e.g. case, passive constructions, wh questions, pronouns and antecedents etc.) and explain i) the generative approach to this phenomenon and ii) why this approach is bast placed to account for the phenomenon and the associated data.

OR

B. Choose two other non-generative frameworks and i) provide an overview to the frameworks, including their historical development and motivation, ii) discuss the difference/similarities of the approaches taken with those of generative syntax to a specific syntactic phenomenon (e.g. case, passive constructions, wh-questions, pronouns and antecedents).

OR

C. Choose a topic of your own related to the content of this module to write a 1000-word essay on. Please discuss your topic with me beforehand so I can make sure it is not too broad and help with any suggested readings. Please remember to include some example data to support your discussion.