Answer Key HW 1

Linguistics 2010Q: The Science of Linguistics HOMEWORK #1 Due: Jan 30, 2024 by 11:00 a.m. (either electronically or at the beginning of class) Total: 25 points Name: Answer Key__________________________________________________ QUESTION 1 11 points Swahili of Eastern Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo) Based on a linguistic challenge by Ronnie Sim Consider the following examples from Swahili and answer A. and B. i. Ninasema. ‘I speak.’ vi. Niliona. ‘I saw.’ ii. Wunasema. ‘You speak.’ vii. Ninawaona. ‘I see them.’ iii. Anasema. ‘She speaks.’ viii. Niliwuona. ‘I saw you.’ iv. Wanasema. ‘They speak.’ ix. Ananiona. ‘She sees me.’ v. Ninaona. ‘I see.’ x. Wutakaniona. ‘You will see me.’ A. Try to match the meanings in a. through h. with a morpheme in the Swahili data. Hints: The morphemes for subject and object pronouns are the same (e.g., the morpheme for ‘I’ is the same as the morpheme for ‘me’). [4 points] a. ‘speak’ sema e. ‘I’/‘me’ Ni b. ‘see’ ona f. ‘they’/‘them’ Wa c. present na g. ‘you’ Wu d. past li h. ‘will’/ future Taka B. Translate the following sentences into Swahili. [6 points] i. Watakasema ‘They will speak.’ j. Nitakawuona ‘I will see you.’ k. Aliniona ‘She saw me.’ C. The following grammatical functions are expressed in Swahili: object, subject, tense [listed here in alphabetical order]. State the order in which object affix, subject affix, tense affix, and root appear in Swahili. [1 point] Subject affix/tense affix/object affix/root

Linguistics 2010Q: The Science of Linguistics QUESTION 2 6 points The data below are from Armenian and the question is based on an exercise in: Honda, Maya & Wayne O’Neil. 2008. Thinking linguistically: A scientific approach to language . Blackwell. Note the following conventions:  A period ( . ) marks syllable boundaries (e.g., Ar . me.ni.an )  A hyphen ( - ) marks a morpheme boundary (e.g., cat-s ). singular plural a. ga.dou ‘cat’ ga.dou-ner ‘cats’ b. tas ‘lesson’ tas-er ‘lessons’ c. kirk ‘book’ kirk-er ‘books’ d. shov.ga ‘market’ shov.ga-ner ‘markets’ Based on the data in a. through d., we can form the following two hypotheses to explain plural formation in Armenian: Hypothesis I: -er is suffixed to a singular noun that has only one syllable, and -ner is suffixed to a singular noun that has two or more syllables. Hypothesis II: -er is suffixed to a singular noun that ends with a consonant, and -ner is suffixed to a singular noun that ends with a vowel. [Somewhat simplified, vowels are a, e, i, o u ; consonants all others] A. [3 points] One way to test a hypothesis is to look for counterexamples—i.e., data that dis- confirm or falsify a hypothesis. In order to recognize a counterexample, it is useful to have figured out beforehand what kinds of data would qualify as counterexamples. Your task in this question is to identify and state the forms that an Armenian plural noun would have to take (i.e., hypothetical forms) in order to qualify as a counterexample to one of the hy- potheses given above. For starters, choose from the following Armenian nouns and, for each of the blanks, come up with at least one form that gives you a true claim: a.mis ‘month’ sirt ‘heart’ ha.koost ‘dress’ ta.ri ‘year’ 1. __a.mis-er___ would be a counterexample to Hypothesis I, but it would be compatible with Hypothesis II. 2. _____ha.koost-ner______ would be a counterexample to Hypothesis II, but it would be compatible with Hypothesis I 3. ___sirt-ner__________ would be a counterexample to Hypothesis I and to Hypothesis II

Linguistics 2010Q: The Science of Linguistics B. Draw the correct tree structure for reinvention on a separate page. [3 points] Reinvention / \ V \ Reinvent \ / | AF Af V -(t)ion Re- Invent