Midterm model answers

Linguistics 522

Instructor: Jean Mark Gawron

Constituency

Consider the sentence:

    (1) He might have been writing a letter
In (2)-(6) there are a number of potential analyses: 
    (2) Chomsky (1957)
    

    
(3) Chomsky LSLT (1955)
    
 
    
(4) Chomsky Studies (1972)
    
 
    
(5) Jackendoff (1972)
    

    
(6) Our text, exercises Ch 6, inherited from Emonds (1976)
Accept the following judgments and use them to argue for or against each of the analyses. Be very specific. State which examples are consistent with which proposals. Is any proposal consistent with all the data? 
    (7) 
 Speaker A:  What might he have been doing?
    
 Speaker B: 
         Writing a letter.
         Been writing a letter.
         Have been writing a letter.

    (8) 
(a) He might have been writing a letter or watching TV.
(b) He might have been writing a letter or been watching TV.
(c) He might have been writing a letter or have been watching TV.

    (9) 
(a) Mary thinks he might have been writing a letter and so he might have been.
(b) Mary thinks he might have been writing a letter and so he might have.
(c) Mary thinks he might have been writing a letter and so he might.

    (10) 
Speaker A: Do you think he might have been writing a letter?

Speaker B:
     (a) Yes, he might have been.
     (b) Yes, he might have.
     (c) Yes, He might.

Model answer

We begin by considering each of the examples in turn. 

(7) 
 Speaker A:  What might he have been doing?

 Speaker B: 
        (a) Writing a letter.
        (b) Been writing a letter.
        (c) Have been writing a letter.
These are standalone fragments, We assume that standalone fragments are constituents. Therefore these examples argue for the constituency of writing a letter, been writing a letter, and have been writing a letter, repectively. 
    (8) 
(a) He might have been writing a letter or watching TV.
(b) He might have been writing a letter or been watching TV.
(c) He might have been writing a letter or have been watching TV.
We assume conjunction applies only to constituents. Therefore these examples argue for the constituency of writing a letter, been writing a letter, and have been writing a letter, repectively. 
    (9) 
(a) Mary thinks he might have been writing a letter and so he might have been.
(b) Mary thinks he might have been writing a letter and so he might have.
(c) Mary thinks he might have been writing a letter and so he might.
We assume so is an anaphoric element that stands for either a V-bar or a VP. The replacements intended are: 
(9) 
(a) ... and so he might have been. [so = writing a letter]
(b) ... and so he might have. [so = been writing a letter]
(c) ... and so he might. [so = have been writing a letter]
Therefore these examples argue for the constituency of writing a letter, been writing a letter, and have been writing a letter, repectively. 
    (10) 
Speaker A: Do you think he might have been writing a letter?

Speaker B:
     (a) Yes, he might have been.
     (b) Yes, he might have.
     (c) Yes, He might.
These are all examples of VP ellipsis. In each case the empty element following an auxiliary is assumed to stand for a Vbar or a VP. The replacements intended are: 
(9) 
(a) Yes, he might have been 0. [0 = writing a letter]
(b) Yes, he might have 0. [0 = been writing a letter]
(c) Yes, he might 0. [0 = have been writing a letter]
Therefore these examples argue for the constituency of writing a letter, been writing a letter, and have been writing a letter, repectively.

Summarizing the data, all the (a) examples argue for the constituency of writing a letter, all the (b) examples argue for the constituency of been writing a letter, and all the (c) examples argue for the constituency of and have been writing a letter.

The proposals in (2)-(6) differ considerably in their constituency claims. The following table summarizes how they line up with the data:

    Constituent Consistent
    Analysis     		Evidence
    writing a letter 3,4,6 (7a), (8a) (9a), (10a)
    been writing a letter 6 (7b), (8b) (9b), (10b )
    have been writing a letter 5,6 (7c), (8c) (9c), (10c)
Scanning the table, we see (6) is the only proposal consistent with all of the data.