THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS LING1001 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS 2010 ASSIGNMENT 1: MORPHOLOGY & SYNTAX

INSTRUCTIONS: Please answer all 3 sections below.

1. Structural Analysis (Morphology) - Leti1 The Austronesian language Leti has a process that derives nouns from verbs. Consider the data below: Column 1 kakri pali sai teti vaka vanunsu a. Column 2 kniakri pniali sniai tnieti vniaka vnianunsu

cry float climb chop ask (for) knead

the act of crying the act of floating the act of climbing the act of chopping the act of asking the act of kneading = massage

Divide the Leti words in the second column into morphemes. For each morpheme, give the meaning and state whether the morpheme is free or bound. Briefly describe how the words in column 2 are formed.

b.

2.

Structural Analysis (Syntax) - Malay Study the data below and answer the questions that follow. (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) a. Ahmad makan nasi. Fauzi makan roti. Orang ini makan ikan. Anjing itu makan tulang besar. Orang tua itu makan pisang. Ahmad makan ikan besar itu. Ahmad is eating rice. Fauzi is eating bread. This person is eating fish. That dog is eating a big bone. That old person is eating a banana. Ahmad is eating that big fish.

List all of the Malay words and give the grammatical category and meaning of each word. Write a set of phrase structure rules to describe the structure of the Malay sentences as seen in (i) - (vi). Assume that Malay has the following categories: S, NP, VP and AP. Assume also that the words in Malay that correspond to this and that in English are articles. [Part (c) of this problem is on the next page.]

b.

The sources of the exercises will be provided in the tutorials.

c.

Consider the sentence in (iv) again: (iv) Anjing itu makan tulang besar.

That dog is eating a big bone.

Analyze the structure of this Malay sentence by providing:(1) a constituent structure; (2) a functional structure; and, (3) an argument structure.

3.

Short Essay Write about 500 words ( 10%) on the topic below. You are encouraged to provide relevant linguistic examples to support your answer. Morphology and syntax are two independent modules of linguistics. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

Important Note: proper referencing and citation should be made when using any part from these or other references that are not your own.

ISSUE DATE: 24th September, 2010 (Friday)

DUE DATE: 5th October, 2010 (Tuesday)

Hard Copy Please put a hard copy of your assignment in your tutor's box after the lecture or in your tutor's pigeon hole in the Linguistics Department Office (M126) before 5.30pm.
(late assignments will be subject to the 7-day rule)

Soft Copy Please submit a soft copy of your assignment in MSWord to your Turnitin.com account (the file name should be your UID number underscore Assignment1 e.g. 2010727989_Assignment1.doc)
BOTH HARD AND SOFT COPIES MUST BE SUBMITTED AT THE SAME TIME. THANKS!

FORMAT No cover page is necessary (please try to save paper), but you will need to include the following information at the top of your assignment: Full Name Tutorial Group No. Assignment No. University No. Tutors Name Please use 1.5 line spacing (to allow space for comments from your tutor). The assignment should be word-processed entirely (including any diagrams). To save paper, please feel free to print on both sides or use presentable "scrap" paper (previously printed on one side and crossed out).