Test on Movement Theory in English Syntax

Question 1: The sentence 'what did you say was hit?' is an example of cyclic wh-movement without any other concurrent syntactic operations.

A. Ano

B. Ne

Explanation: The example 'what did you say was hit?' involves both passivization and cyclic wh-movement, not just cyclic wh-movement alone.

Question 2: Wh-movement of wh-phrases in interrogative clauses is triggered by both the [+wh] feature and the [+Q] feature.

A. Ano

B. Ne

Explanation: The movement of wh-phrases in interrogative clauses is associated with both the [+wh] feature and the [+Q] feature.

Question 3: According to the 'Movement theory: the essentials' section of the study materials, which of the following statements correctly describe aspects of movement theory?

A. X-bar theory alone is sufficient to generate all possible grammatical sentences.

B. Movement rules are a type of transformation that shifts items or phrases within a sentence.

C. Movement theory involves two related positions: a base position and a landing site.

D. Co-indexation in movement theory exclusively signals co-referentiality.

Explanation: The study materials state that 'X-bar theory under-generates, i.e., it does not produce all the possible grammatical sentences in a language,' making option 0 incorrect. The materials explicitly mention 'X-bar theory and transformations - movement rules (they move items/phrases around in the sentence),' confirming option 1. It also states that movement theory involves 'two related positions: base position and landing site,' confirming option 2. Finally, the materials note that 'Co-indexation may signal movement (3) or co-referentiality (4),' indicating that it does not exclusively signal co-referentiality, thus making option 3 incorrect.

Question 4: According to the provided study materials, what is the primary reason for the DP 'John' to move from its base position in a raising construction such as 'John is likely to leave'?

A. To receive its theta-role from the finite verb 'is' in CP1.

B. To satisfy the locality constraint by moving out of CP2.

C. To obtain nominative case from the finite inflection of 'is' in CP1.

D. To ensure that it is focalized or emphasized in the sentence.

Explanation: The study materials explicitly state that John must move because 'leave, as it is non-finite, cannot assign case to John'. Therefore, 'John moves to CP1 in search for case' where 'the finite inflection of is assigns case to John'. This movement is triggered by 'case!'

Question 5: The book 'English grammar: a generative perspective' by Haegeman and Guéron was published in 2006.

A. Ano

B. Ne

Explanation: The study materials indicate that 'English grammar: a generative perspective' by Haegeman, L. and J. Guéron was published in 2002.