Google Translate: Simplified to Traditional

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Linguistics Midterm: Morphology Section

We will be using the following IGE pages to review basic concepts of grammar (the same topics we have covered in the Morphology and Syntax chapters of Language Files, 10th edition). This should not be considered "new" material. You should already have studied almost all of this during your first year of college (or even in junior high school). The pages that appear below give you a brief review.

Internet Grammar of English, Chinese version

The Internet Grammar of English (IGE), is available in a  Chinese version written by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Internet Grammar of English, The -- Introduction

When you study difficult topics, reading a different explanation can sometimes be very helpful. The Internet Grammar of English (IGE) provides this sort of help. IGE gives you a slightly different explanation of phrase structure rules in English. It also gives you a few exercises to help you practice.

Start with the introduction. Pay special attention to the bottom half of this page:

(1) How the grammar is organized (= the topics and their sequence)

and

(2) The conventions they use (special ways of writing words and what they mean)

Butterfly Crossword Puzzle

Crossword puzzles are very popular in English-speaking countries. They are a great way to build up mental flexibility. One of the keys to doing a crossword puzzle is to

1) FIRST do all of the easy words

2) THEN go back and try the "difficult" words. The easy words give you useful letters. This will help you find some of those difficult words.

An interactive version of today's puzzle is posted here (http://crossword.info/CuteTeacherGR/Butterfly_Crossword). Try it out!

If you prefer, there is a static version right below:

Across

1 It's on your shoulders (4) - 4 Spaces between things (4) - 7 Meat from a pig's leg (3) - 9 It covers [1 Across] (3) - 10 Mother (2) - 12 (men & women) go on ~ (= go out together) (5) - 14 A short form of LOL (2) - 15 A short form of "Employee Related Expense" (3) - 17 We use it for cooking: frying ~ (3) - 18 We use it to play baseball: the ~ hits the ball (3) - 19 Short form of trinitrotoluene (used to make bombs) (3) - 21 Help for people who are hurt is "first ~" (3) - 22 American money (7) - 23 Five and five (3) - 24 Uses water to clean a dirty floor (3) - 26 Like a table to sleep on (3) - 27 And other things (3) - 29 To say "yes" with your head. Sleepy people do this, too. (3) - 31 Used to cut trees (another spelling of "axe") (2) - 32 This person makes walls. Also a family name: Mr. ~ (5) - 34 "Hello" = "How do you ~?" (2) - 35 ~s like to catch mice (3) - 36 Short form of "Benjamin" (3) - 38 Don't open that ~! (4) - 39 Make an animal stop being afraid of you (4).

Syntax Quiz (Language Files 5.1) Part A

Syntax Quiz (Language Files 5.1)

1 Word Order (3 sentences are OK. Which one is grammatically wrong?)
A My dog eats steak
B Eats steak my dog
C Steak, my dog eats
D Steak eats my dog

2 Lexical Categories (我很喜歡狗 3 translations are wrong.
Which one is correct? Can you say why?)
A I like dogs
B I very like dogs
C I like dog
D I very like dog

3 Agreement (3 sentences are wrong. Which one is correct? Can you say why?)
A 一匹牛
B 一張椅子
C 一把書
D 一條蛇

4 Q: What is a sentence? A: A sentence is a ~ of words
Fill in ONE correct word

Answers appear below the break

Syntax Quiz (Language Files 5.1) Part B

5~10 Constituency and hierarchical structure

There are 50 states（五十州) in the US. Each state has one governor（州長）. Each state has many cities. Each city has one mayor（市長）. The president of the US is more important than the governor of Alaska. The governor of Alaska is more important than the mayors of the cities in Alaska. The US government has a hierarchical structure, from top to bottom (president > governor > mayor).

Sentences work in roughly the same way. Sentence are more “important” than constituents, and constituents are more “important” than words.

 "My dog loves me" = [S [NP [DET My] [N dog]] [VP [V loves][NP [N me]]]]

Fill in the correct words in the following paragraph. Choose from this list:

city constituents country groups hierarchical larger sentence state syntax words

Just like the US government, a sentence also has a 5 [~] structure. Sentences are made of 6 [~]. The words in a sentence form 7 [~]. These groups are called 8 [~]. Small groups are part of 9 [~] groups. All of the groups of words in a 10 [~] form a hierarchical structure. 

Answers appear below the break:

Reminder: Test Schedule

Please don't forget this semester's new rules for quizzes & tests. There will be one or two quizzes/tests per class. If you arrive late or leave early, you will probably miss a test, and there will be NO makeups. Quiz/Test grades will be totaled up at the end of the semester and divided by one less than the total number of tests: test grade = (N * 100)/N-1. If you miss one test, you're still OK. If you miss more than one, your average starts to go down.

Xhosa: Miriam Makeba Song

You don't have to sing the song yourself (even your teacher has trouble!), but you should be familiar with the click sounds in this song because we studied them in class.

In this version she explains that she used to be unhappy when white people asked her: "How do you make that noise?" "It's not a noise. It's my language!" she would answer. Now she doesn't mind such comments.

Here is a clear recording of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tSJ7L_IRBs

Here she explains the song on stage (but the recording is not so clear):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m_TEq2E4cs

Miriam Makeba speaks Xhosa.

Below a handsome young man from South Africa teaches us how to speak his language. What do we call those special sounds? Remember? We practiced them in class.

Lesson 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ6oe2U7AOA

Lesson 2 (Here he tells you what the sounds are)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31zzMb3U0iY

Korean Hangul: A Featural Alphabet

In 1444, King Sejong the Great, the king of Korea, announced a new alphabet called Hangul:

國之語音異乎中國與文字不相流通故愚民 有所欲言而終不得伸其情者多矣予爲此憫然新制二十八字欲使人人易習便於日用矣Because the speech of our country is different from that of China, Chinese writing does not match our language. Therefore, when commoners wish to communicate, many of them cannot express their feelings. Saddened by this, I have newly made 28 letters. It is my wish that every person may easily learn them and that they be convenient for daily use. 

King Sejong the Great

This alphabet is very special because:

1) Many consonant letters are simple pictures which show how these sounds are made.

2) Sounds made in the same place in your mouth (place of articulation) or made in the same way (manner of articulation) are written in a similar way. This is a "featural alphabet."

Here is a Hangul consonant chart:

Here is a Hangul vowel chart:

Notice how the consonant letter shapes for 'N' and 'G' are similar:

What a clever king!