2- Assignment Paper

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Grammar of English
Practice Exam (40 points total) — Sample Solution
Part 1. (3 points)

Word Part of
Speech
Morphological (Inflectional or Derivational)
or Syntactic Evidence
daggy adjective -y derivational
can take –er, -est inflectional adjective/adverb suffixes
bloody adverb -y derivational
can take –er, -est inflectional adjective/adverb suffixes
yakka noun modified by the adjective phrase bloody hard
nick verb can take –s, -ed, -ing inflectional verb suffixes
wagged verb -ed inflectional
Part 2. (3 points)
a. the most comical response to the situation
NP
Dr:Dv M/Pre-H Dep:AdjP H:N Post-H Dep:PP
the M/Pre-H Dep: AdvP H:Adj response H:Prep Comp:NP
H:Adv comical in Dr:Dv H:N
most the situation
b. industrial waste trucks
NP
M/Pre-H Dep: NP H: N
M/Pre-H Dep: AdjP H: N trucks
H:Adj waste
industrial
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Part 3. (6 points)
a. In (i), the noun phrase ‘the beeping of reversing trucks’ has been replaced by an
anaphoric pronoun ‘it’, while in (ii), it is repeated but with ellipsis of the post-head
dependent ‘of reversing trucks’
b. (i) is an existential ‘there’ sentence to denote a meaning of the existence of
‘mischief afoot’. But (ii) is an exclamative sentence. (Read with rising intonation
or punctuated with a ? it could also be interpreted as a wh- question to ask about
‘the mischief that was afoot’.)
c. The verbal element in (i) is in the preterite perfect tense, which means the action of
‘throwing’ happened before a particular time of reference in the past, i.e. before
something happened. However, the verbal element in (ii) is in the preterite tense
showing that that action of ‘throwing’ happened in the past but it is not being
related to a particular time of reference.
d. Predictably in (i) is a disjunct modifying the whole sentence, while abruptly in (ii)
is an adjunct modifying only the second coordinative clause ‘screeched to a halt at
the rear of the supermarket.
Part 4. (8 points)
a. [The extraordinary new Hokey Power Supa Sucka] S:NP [has eliminated] P:Ve
[conventional brushes] O:NP
Clause pattern: transitive
b. [The revolutionary result] S:NP [is] P:Ve [truly earthmoving] PCs:AdjP
Clause pattern: copula / complex-intransitive
c. [This latest advance in vacuuming technology] S:NP [is] P:Ve [a light, compact,
easy-to-use sweeper] PCs:NP
Clause pattern: copula / complex-intransitive
d. [The Hokey Power Supa Sucka] S:NP [picks] P:Ve [up] Ca:Prep [everything] O:NP
Clause pattern: none
e. [Not a hair or an AA battery] S:NP [will be left] P:Ve [behind] A:AdvP.
Clause pattern: intransitive
f. [It] S:NP [gives] P:Ve [you] Oi:NP [this amazing performance] Od:NP
[without electricity] A:PP
Clause pattern: ditransitive
g. [You] S:NP [can use] P:Ve [it] O:NP [almost anywhere] A:AdvP
Clause pattern: transitive
h. [With eight continuous spiral squeegee-like flexible rubber blades, selfcleaning and with textured edges] A:PP [the Hokey Power Supa Sucka] S:NP
[cleans] P:Ve [any household surface] O:NP.
Clause pattern: transitive
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Part 5. (5 points)
a. What inverts with the subject is different; in these examples, there is no evidence
of the addition of do as an operator when the verbal element consists only of a
main verb and instead the lexical verb functions as an operator and undergoes
subject-operator inversion.

b. In these examples, the negative element not occurs after the lexical verb (and an
object pronoun if one is present). There is no evidence of the addition of do as an
operator in the negative statements, but instead the lexical verb functions as an
operator with respect to negatives.
c. In these examples from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, there is no evidence of the
addition of do as an operator when the verbal element consists of only a main verb
and instead the main verb functions as an operator. This suggests that during this
time period what ‘counts’ as an operator has changed and that the addition of do as
an operator when one is not already present in the sentence is a relatively recent
innovation in the grammar of English.
Part 6. (9 points)
a. He said [that black mothers like me weren’t allowed [to keep babies like you]].
Subord Cl 1:
clause type: finite content clause
function: object
Subord. Cl. 2:
clause type: nonfinite infinitival clause
function: object
b. He didn’t want [you brought up as one of our people].
clause type: nonfinite participial clause
function: object
c. No-one would tell me [where you’d gone].
clause type: finite content clause
function: direct object
d. I heard [they’d changed your last name], but I didn’t know [what your new name
was].
Subord Cl 1:
clause type: finite content clause
function: object
Subord Cl 2:
clause type: finite content clause
function: object
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e. Mr Neville said [I’d only hurt you by [trying [to find you]].
Subord Cl 1:
clause type: finite content clause
function: object
Subord Cl 2:
clause type: nonfinite participial clause
function: complement (of the preposition by)
Subord Cl 3:
clause type: nonfinite infinitival clause
function: object
Part 7. (6 points)
a. Thematic structure: passive
Thematic factor(s): end-weight
Motivation: The tendency for lengthy, complex phrases to come last is known as
end-weight. Structures are often complex when they contain more new
information. So this arrangement coincides with the tendency for new information
to follow given information.
b. Thematic structure: existential there
Thematic factor(s): end-focus
Motivation: to introduce a new entity into the narrative.
c. Thematic structure: left-dislocation
Thematic factor(s): topic
Motivation: places an element in front position in the clause where it functions as
the topic.