Chapter 4 From Word to Text

I. Decide whether each of the following statements is true or false:

1. Grammatical sentences are formed following a set of syntactic rules.

2. The syntactic rules of any language are finite in number, but there

is no limit to the number of sentences native speakers of that language are able to produce and comprehend.

3. An endocentric construction is also known as headed construction

because it has just one head

4. Constituents that can be substituted for one another without loss

of grammaticality belong to the same syntactic category.

5. In English syntactic analysis, four phrasal categories are

commonly recognized and discussed, namely, noun phrase, verb phrase, infinitive phrase, and auxiliary phrase.

6. Number and gender are categories of noun and pronoun. 7. Word order plays an important role in the organization of

English sentences.

8. Like English, modern Chinese is a SVO language.

9. In English the subject usually precedes the verb and the direct object usually follows the verb.

10. A noun phrase must contain a noun, but other elements are optional.

( 1-5 TTFTF 6-10 TTTTT )

II.

Fill in each of the following blanks with one word which begins with the letter given:

1 A s________ is a structurally in dependent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command

2. A clause that takes a subject and a finite verb, and at the same

time structurally alone is known as an f__________ clause 3. The part of a sentence which comprises a finite verb or a verb

phrase and which says something about the subject is grammatically called p_________.

4. A c_________ sentence contains two, or more, clauses, one

of which is incorporated into the other.

5. In the complex sentence, the incorporated or subordinate clause

is normally called an e_______ clause.

6. Major lexical categories are o___ categories in the sense that

new words are constantly added.

7. G_________ relations refer to the structural and logical functional relations between every noun phrase and sentence 8. A a__________ sentence consists of a single clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence.

9. A s__________ is a structurally independent unit that usually comprises a number of words to form a complete statement, question or command.

10. A s__________ may be a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence that usually precedes the predicate.