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Bryce Hartley CTL 3209 Syntax Due: 8 April 2014 Assignment 2 1. *The boy may frighten sincerity.

The categorical features for the predicate frighten are [+V, -N] and the subcategorization features can be written as [NP1NP2] or simply [NP] because frighten requires at least a noun phrase following it. Frighten includes the important selectional restriction that the NP proceeding it (NP2) must be rational (mind possessing). Specifically, NP2 cannot be a concept, object or insect but could be a person (the most common case) or an animal. On the other hand, the preceding NP (NP1) does not have this selectional restriction as it could take any kind of noun. As for the thematic roles, boy is acting as the agent/stimulus and sincerity as the experiencer because in the event the boy is actively trying to frighten someone, then he is an agent but if his mere presence (unintentionally) causes fear then he is more of a stimulus than an agent. Based on the above restrictions the ungrammatically of the sentence is clearly caused by the selection restrictions regarding NP2 because sincerity is an idea and therefore not animate and in violation of the selection restriction. This is also linked to the thematic roles because in a sentence with frighten as the predicate the experiencer must be creature which can undergo this change, that being a something which can feel fear. 2. *Sincerity may admire the boy. The predicate of sentence 2 is admire therefore the categorical features are [+V, -N] and its subcategorization frame can be written as, [NP1NP2] or simply [NP].

Thematically, sincerity is the experiencer and boy the stimulus/agent (depending on intentionality) of the admiration. In this case the NP1/experiencer has the selectional restriction of being human, as only a human being is capable of admiring something or someone. As a result the crux of the ungrammatically is with regards to the violation of the selectional restriction because sincerity is not a human but rather a concept. 3. *John amazed the injustice of that decision. The predicate amazed has the categorical features [+V, -N] and its subcategorization frame is [ (V) (PP), NP ]. Thematically, John is the agent or experiencer and injustice the stimulus or patient. To better explain the reasons for the two possible themes for the above words, consider the following sentences:
1. John was amazed by the injustice of the decision. 2. John amazed the judges of the decision.

In sentence 1 John is the experiencer who was amazed by the injustice (stimulus) but in sentence 2 John is the agent causing amazement to the judges (patient). When the NP of the subcategorization frame is acting as the patient, it includes the selectional restriction of being human because only humans are capable of feeling complex emotions, such as amazement. As such the ungrammatically can be seen in two ways, in the syntactic sense because in order to keep the current following NP the injustice a VP (was) needs to precede the predicate and a PP (by) needs to follow. The second way the grammatically can be explained is in terms of selectional restrictions because if the NP is seen as the patient then it must be human but injustice is not.

4. *The boy elapsed. The predicate elapsed has the categorical features [+V, -N] and the subcategorization frame of [NP ] indicating that it is an intransitive verb which requires a NP preceding it. In this sentence the only thematic relation/distinction is that The boy acts as the experiencer. Regarding the selectional restrictions, the preceding NP/experiencer must be time related, i.e. seconds, minuets, hours, time etc. As a result the sentence is ungrammatical because the preceding NP is a human and not a time related word. 5. *The boy was abundant. In this sentence abundant (the predicate) contains the categorical features [+V, +N] and the subcategorization frame can be written as [ (NP) (V) (NP) ] wherein at least one of the optional elements is present. Clearly based on this frame, abundant can accept a wide range of contexts and thus the ungrammatically of the sentence is not purely syntactic. Thematically the boy is the patient who has undergone the change of becoming abundant. As such part of the ungrammaticality is linked to the fact that a person cannot become abundant. Therefore, abundant contains the selectional restriction that the NP it describes (both in the preceding or proceeding position) must be an entity which can fluctuate in amount (a crop, a species, a supply etc.). Since the boy is static in terms of quantity by nature, it violates the selectional restriction. 6. *The harvest was clever to agree.

The predicate clever is an adjective with the categorical features [+V, +N] and subcategorization frame of [ (NP) (V) (NP) ] wherein at least one of the optional elements is present. Thematically, the harvest takes the role of agent who makes the clever choice to agree. Furthermore, this predicate (clever) has the following selectional restriction; whichever NP clever modifies must be either a rational being (mind possessing) or belong to a rational being (i.e. a clever choice, decision, plan (which belongs to a person)). 7. *John is owning a house. In this sentence the predicate owning has the categorical features [+V, -N] and the subcategorization frame of [(V) NP]. Thematically John takes the role of agent and house the role of theme. The predicate owning has the slightly complex selectional restriction that if most cases if owning is preceded by a verb it cannot be a to be verb. The only exception being if the to be verb begins the sentence such as, Is owning a house a good idea? The ungrammaticality of this sentence is because it violates the selectional restriction. Furthermore, most other stative verbs have the same restriction, in that they cannot be used in conjunction with to be in the present continuous tense. I.e. *I am believing you or *I am understanding you. Instead stative verbs take the simple present tense in these situations. So the grammatical version of the sentence should be John owns a car. 8. *The dog looks barking. In this sentence the predicate looks has the following respective categorical features and subcategorization frame; [+V, -N] and [ ADJ]. Thematically The dog is the

agent doing the action of barking. In this case the ungrammaticality of the sentence stems from the violation of the subcategorization, which calls for an adjective after the predicate, but barking is clearly a verb. 9. *John solved the pipe. Solved is the predicate in this sentence and contains the following categorical features, [+V, -N] and its subcategorization frame can be written as [ NP ], indicating that solved is a transitive verb. Thematically John is the agent and the pipe is the theme, which John solves. Both the agent and the theme have selection restrictions, those being the agent must be rational (mind possessing) into order to solve something and the object to be solved, the theme, must be a puzzle of sorts (such as a problem, mystery, code etc.). As such the sentence can be determined ungrammatical because the pipe does not represent a type of puzzle. 10. *The book dispersed. The predicate dispersed has the categorical features of [+V, -N] and the subcategorization frame of [NP (NP) ], indicating that it can be both a transitive verb or intransitive, though in this sentence clearly intransitive. Regarding thematic relations, The book plays the part of agent doing action upon itself (dispersing). In intransitive cases like this sentence, the preceding NP has the selectional restriction of being non-static. I specifically chose the word non-static instead of animate because although in most cases the NP is animate, for a sentence such as The fog dispersed, the label of animate does not fit.

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