Chapter 5

What is syntax the study of?

• The study of word structure.

• The study of sentence structure.

• The study of meaning.

• The study of sound patterns.

Is the number of possible sentences in a language finite or infinite?

• Finite

• Infinite

• Limited

• Fixed

What is meant by "syntactic categories"?

• Parts of speech or word classes.

• Rules for pronunciation.

• Sentence types.

• Rules for spelling.

Which of the following is a lexical category?

• Determiner

• Auxiliary

• Noun

• Preposition

Which of the following is a non-lexical (functional) category?

• Verb

• Adjective

• Determiner

• Adverb

What are the three main criteria for determining a word's syntactic category?

• Spelling, pronunciation, meaning.

• Meaning, inflection, distribution.

• Origin, length, frequency.

• Sound, stress, length.

What does the term "distribution" refer to when classifying words?

• The meaning of the word.

• The types of affixes a word can take.

• The environments in which a word can occur; what words it can appear with.

• The origin of the word.

Which of the following is a typical characteristic of nouns?

• They can occur with determiners.

• They express actions.

• They modify verbs.

• They cannot be pluralized.

Which of the following is a typical characteristic of verbs?

• They denote properties of entities.

• They can be marked for tense.

• They occur with degree words.

• They always denote physical actions.

What is a typical characteristic of adjectives?

• They can't be modified.

• They follow the noun they modify.

• They can be modified by degree words like "very."

• They denote events.