英语专业考研语言学复习资料句法学

Chapter 4：Syntax

I. Decide whether each of the following statements is True or False:

1. Syntax is a subfied of linguistics that studies the sentence structure

of language, including the combination of morphemes into words.

2.Grammatical sentences are formed following a set of syntactic rules.

3. Sentences are composed o f sequence of words arranged in a simple linear

order, with one adding onto another following a simple arithmetic logic.

4.Universally found in the grammars of all human languages, syntactic

rules that comprise the system of internalized linguistic knowledge of

a language speaker are known as linguistic competence.

5. The syntactic rules of any language are finite in number, but there

is no limit to the number of sentences native speakers of that language are able to produce and comprehend.

6. In a complex sentence, the two clauses hold unequal status, one

subordinating the other.

7. Constituents that can be substituted for one another without loss of

grammaticality belong to the same syntactic category.

8. Minor lexical categories are open because these categories are not

fixed and new members are allowed for.

9. In English syntactic analysis, four phrasal categories are commonly

recognized and discussed, namely, noun phrase, verb phrase, infinitive

phrase, and auxiliary phrase.

10. In English the subject usually precedes the verb and the direct object

usually follows the verb.

11.What is actually internalized in the mind of a native speaker is a complete

list of words and phrases rather than grammatical knowledge.

12. A noun phrase must contain a noun, but other elements are optional.

13. It is believed that phrase structure rules, with the insertion of the

lexicon, generate sentences at the level of D-structure.

14. WH-movement is obligatory in English which changes a sentence from

affirmative to interrogative.

II. Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:

15. A s________ sentence consists of a single clause which contains a

subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence.

16. A s______ is a structurally independent unit that usually comprises

a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command.

17. A s______ may be a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence that usually

precedes the predicate.

18. The part of a sentence which comprises a finite verb or a verb phrase

and which says something about the subject is grammatically called

p_________.

19. A c_________ sentence contains two, or more, clauses, one of which

is incorporated into the other.

20. In the complex sentence, the incorporated or subordinate clause is

normally called an e_______ clause.

21. Major lexical categories are o___ categories in the sense that new

words are constantly added.