Your task is to use the data below to answer questions about how relative clauses (RCs) are formed in Bangla. Bangla is an SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) language. The basic structure of a simple clause in Bangla is given in (7). (8) is also relevant (note that Bangla, unlike English, does not use a copula like ’is/are’ in such sentences).

(7) oi bacca-ra film-gulo dheke.

those kid-plural movie-plural watch

‘Those kids watch films.’

 

(8) film-gulo bhalo.

film-plural good

‘The films are good.’

 

Now consider the following sentences. (9) is a grammatical sentence that contains an RC. (10) is an ungrammatical sentence that cannot be used in Bangla.

(9) film-gulo je-gulo oi bacca-ra dekhe bhalo.

‘The films that the kids watch are good.’

 

(10) *film-gulo je-gulo oi bacca-ra film-gulo dekhe bhalo.

 

 

 

Based on the sentences above, answer this question:

A. Which words make up the RC in (9)? 

B. Does the RC contain a relative pronoun? If so, what is it? 

 

 

 

It is argued that in order to build a relative clauses in English, one has to move a relative pronoun/operator from a base position inside TP to the specifier of CP. Is a similar analysis required for Bangla? Consider the two following hypotheses about relative clauses in Bangla (only one of which is correct):

• Hypothesis A: RCs in Bangla require movement of an operator/relative pronoun.

• Hypothesis B: RCs in Bangla DO NOT require movement of an operator/relative pronoun.

 

 

Now answer these questions. Your answers should be complete, but succinct. Your answers should also be precise and use terminology correctly. Remember: your answers should discuss the Bangla examples (Bangla words, Bangla morphemes, Bangla word order), NOT their English translations!

C. Does Hypothesis A predict that Bangla RCs should contain a gap? Why or why not? 

D. Does Hypothesis B predict that Bangla RCs should contain a gap? Why or why not? 

E. Is there a gap in (9)? Describe what evidence you think that there IS for a gap, or why you think there IS NOT a gap. That is, which sentences above give evidence for a gap? What part of the sentence(s) are evidence for the gap? (HINT: You will want to consider word order in (7)). 

F. (10) is ungrammatical. Does Hypothesis A predict that? Explain why or why not.

G. (10) is ungrammatical. Does Hypothesis B predict that? Explain why or why not.

H. Based on your answers above, state which hypothesis you think is correct. 

 

 

 

 

The sentences below give you more information about relative clauses and sentence structure in Bangla. The following sentence is ungrammatical in Bangla:

(11) *film-gulo oi bacca-ra dekhe bhalo.

Answer this question:

I.  We saw that English has zero-relatives. Does Bangla? State how the sentence in (11) tells you one way or another.

Finally, consider the sentences below. (b) gives you one extra piece of information that you didn’t know from above: Instead of prepositions, Bangla has post-positions. This means that the Bangla equivalent of words like for, with, from ... come after their complements. (13) shows you an acceptable RC. Note that instead of je, we see the word jar. (14) is an unacceptable RC. Careful: Do not rely on the English translations to figure out the structure of the Bangla sentences!

(12) a.      maa-er shaathe

                  mom with

                  ‘With mom.’

b. oi bacca-ra shobshomoy maa-er shaathe film dekhe.

those kid-plural always        mom with            film watch

‘Those kids always watch movies with mom.

 

 

(13) mohila jar sathe oi bacca-ra shobshomoy film dekhe khub shundor.

woman REL with those kids            always          film watch very beautiful

‘The woman that the kids always watch films with is very beautiful.’

 

 

 

(14) *mohila jar oi bacca-ra shobshomoy sathe film dekhe khub shundor.

woman REL those kids          always            with film watch very beautiful

 

Answer these questions with the sentences above in mind:

J. Is jar a relative pronoun (like who/which in English) or a complementizer (like that in English)? How can you tell? 

K. Does Bangla allow post-position-stranding? How can you tell? 

In the sentence (0), the word "can" has moved from AuxP to T.

(0) People can tell the difference.

Group of answer choices

True

False

Assuming (as we will for the rest of the course) that Voice heads exist, how many theta roles does the verb "send" assign?

Group of answer choices

0

1

3

2

Based on your answer to Question 1 above, which theta roles does the verb "send" assign?

Group of answer choices

Theme and Goal/Recipient

Agent, Theme and Goal

Agent and Goal

Agent and Theme

How many, and which, theta-roles does “the monkey” receive in sentence (1)?

(1) The monkey seems to have eaten the falafel.

Group of answer choices

2, Agent and Theme

2, both Agent

1, Theme

1, Agent

How many T heads are there in sentence (1) above?

Group of answer choices

2

0

3

1

What morpheme(s) occupies/occupy the T head(s) in sentence (1)?

Group of answer choices

-s, to

seems, to

-Ø, have

-ed, to

Sentence (2)  is ungrammatical because it violates which requirements/principles?

(2) It was seen a movie.

Group of answer choices

Case Filter

Theta Criterion

EPP

Should the word "played" in sentence (3) be decomposed into distinct morphemes? If no, explain why not. If yes, list what those morphemes are and their syntactic categories.

(3) The raptors have played well in the last 5 games.

Should the word "went" in sentence (4) be decomposed into distinct morphemes? If no, explain why not. If yes, list what those morphemes are and their syntactic categories.

(4) The raptors went all night without a basket.

Consider sentences (5) and (6). Both sentences contain the word "have". In one sentence "have" should be decomposed. In the other sentence it should not. State which "have" should be decomposed and list what morphemes it should be decomposed into.

(5) The kids have gone to the store.

(6) The kids will have eaten cake.

How many traces of the DP "The plants" are present in the structure corresponding to the sentence in (7)?

(7) The plants have been watered.

Group of answer choices

2

0

3

1

What theta role does the DP "the plants" receive in sentence (7) above?

Group of answer choices

Goal

Agent

Theme

How many traces of the DP "The kid" are present in the structure corresponding to the sentence in (8)?

(8) The kid seems to be solving a puzzle.

Group of answer choices

1

0

2

What theta role does the DP "the kid" receive in sentence (8) above?

Group of answer choices

Goal

Theme

Agent

What position(s) do(es) the trace(s) of "the kid" occupy in the structure of (8)?

Group of answer choices

SpecVoiceP, Embedded SpecTP

Embedded SpecVP, Embedded SpecTP

Embedded SpecVP, Embedded SpecVoiceP

There are no traces

Embedded SpecVP

Embedded SpecTP

What head does the DP "the kid" get Case from in (8)?

Group of answer choices

T, headed by "-s"

T, headed by "to"

V solve

V seem

Take the sentence in (9).

(9) The book was placed on the table.

What ungrammatical sentence would be produced if we had moved the DP "the table" to specTP instead of "the book"?

What principle would be violated if we moved "the table" to specTP instead of moving "the book" in (9)?

Group of answer choices

Case Filter

EPP

Theta Criterion

(10) is an ungrammatical sentence. Why is it ungrammatical? (state what principle is violated and why it is violated)

(10) *Dave seems to seem.

Run a constituency test that shows that "quickly" does not attach to the DP "the baskets" in (11).

(11) The traders looked through the baskets quickly.

In English, finite auxiliary verbs receive their inflection via affix hopping.

True or False

In English, main verbs never move to T.

True or False

Negation blocks affix-hopping in English.

True or False

Korean is a Subject-Object-Verb language (so the verb comes at the end of the clause). Morphological case is marked using suffixes on DPs: DPs are marked with different suffixes depending on whether they get nominative, accusative, etc. These suffixes are glossed below as NOM and ACC. With that information, consider the following sentences.

(7) Emma-ka kyehoyk-ul helak-ha-yessta.

Emma-NOM plans-ACC approve-HA-past

’Emma approved the plans.’

(8) Kyehoyk-i helak-toy-yessta.

plans-NOM approve-TOY-past

’The plans were approved.’

Answer the following questions:

A. Which sentence is an active sentence? How can you tell? 

- ’Because I read the English translation’ is not an acceptable answer.

B. Which is a passive sentence? How can you tell? 

- ’Because I read the English translation’ is not an acceptable answer.

C. In (7) there is a morpheme -ha- that comes between the verb helak and the past tense morpheme yessta. In (8) the morpheme -toy- occurs in this position.

(i) What information does the morpheme -ha- contribute? 

(ii) What information does the morpheme -toy- contribute? 

D. If you had to choose which syntactic phrase you thought -ha- and -toy- might be the head of from the options below, which would it be?  

a. VP

b. VoiceP

c. TP

d. AuxP

E. Explain why you chose the phrase you did. 2-3 sentences. 

F. Is Case assignment in the Korean passive similar to Case assignment in the English passive? Explain why you say yes or no. 

Explain why the following sentences are ungrammatical in complete sentences. Your response should contain (i) what principle(s) is/are violated, (ii) what phrase is causing the violation(s), (iii) how that phrase is causing the violation. Be clear, but also succinct. The correct answer can be stated in 3-4 sentences.

(4) *Tuna is likely that she will chase squirrels. 

(5) *It was seen the man. 

(6) *Which girl did the man see her at the bus stop?