Morphology: The Case Filter 2.1

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This exercise shows the interface between syntax and morphology and gives you practice at understanding this relationship by having you explain why certain structures are ungrammatical. Each sentence contains a personal pronoun in either subject position, object position, or as a possessor. Remember that in English, case is only expressed overtly on personal pronouns. (This nodes not mean that other nouns do not need to be case-marked.) For this exercise, we will focus on case being assigned at the structural level, i.e.,syntactic position in a phrase.

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Question 1

State why this sentence is ungrammatical.

*He fell it.

A	'it’ is assigned NOM case Hint: The NP ‘it’ is in the object position of the intransitive V ‘fell’ which cannot assign ACC case. Thus ‘it’ cannot receive case. This pronoun is not licensed.
B	‘He’ is not assigned case Hint: The NP ‘it’ is in the object position of the intransitive V ‘fell’ which cannot assign ACC case. Thus ‘it’ cannot receive case. This pronoun is not licensed.
C	it’ is not assigned case

Question 2

State why this sentence is ungrammatical.

* For he to change the tires on the Batmobile is ridiculous.

A	‘he’ is marked with ACC case Hint: Even though the pronoun ‘he’ seems to be in subject position of the sentence, it is actually the object of the preposition ‘for’ thus should be marked with ACC case.
B	‘he’ is marked with GEN case Hint: Even though the pronoun ‘he’ seems to be in subject position of the sentence, it is actually the object of the preposition ‘for’ thus should be marked with ACC case.
C	‘he’ is marked with NOM case

Question 3

State why this sentence is ungrammatical.

* He to decide the plight of the Joker.

A	‘He’ is marked with NOM case. Hint: The subject ‘He’ cannot be marked with any case since the verb of which it is the subject 'to decide' is an infinitive and cannot assign case. Remember, I head of an infinitive verb cannot assign case to Spec IP.
B	‘He’ is not marked with case.
C	‘He’ is marked with ACC case. Hint: The subject ‘He’ cannot be marked with any case since the verb of which it is the subject 'to decide' is an infinitive and cannot assign case. Remember, I head of an infinitive verb cannot assign case to Spec IP.

Question 4

State why this sentence is ungrammatical.

* Harriet read the children book to them.

A	‘book’ is marked with GEN case Hint: The NP ‘children’ must be assigned GEN case by the N ‘book’ since the possessor of the book is the children.
B	‘Harriet’ is not marked with case Hint: The NP ‘children’ must be assigned GEN case by the N ‘book’ since the possessor of the book is the children.
C	‘children’ is not marked with case

Question 5

State why this sentence is ungrammatical.

* Them have bought plane tickets for Paris, France.

A	'Them’ is not marked with case
B	‘Them’ is marked with GEN case Hint: The pronoun ‘them’ is marked with ACC case, however is in subject position where it needs to be marked with NOM by I head.
C	‘Them’ is marked with ACC case Hint: The pronoun ‘them’ is marked with ACC case, however is in subject position where it needs to be marked with NOM by I head.

Question 6

Select the reason that accounts for the ungrammaticality of the following sentence.

*No one to show up at the party is a shame.

A	‘no one’ receives no case
B	‘no one’ receives ACC case Hint: The subject NP ‘no one’ is in subject position of the non-finite verb ‘to show up’ which cannot assign case. Thus ‘no one’ is not marked with case and is not licensed.
C	‘no one’ receives NOM case Hint: The subject NP ‘no one’ is in subject position of the non-finite verb ‘to show up’ which cannot assign case. Thus ‘no one’ is not marked with case and is not licensed.

Question 7

State why this sentence is ungrammatical.

* Lois cat gave her the mumps.

A	‘Lois’ is not marked with case.
B	‘Lois’ is marked with NOM case. Hint: 'Her' is assigned ACC case which licenses this pronoun. However the NP ‘Lois’ must be assigned GEN case by the N ‘cat,’ which it is not.
C	‘her’ is marked with ACC case. Hint: 'Her' is assigned ACC case which licenses this pronoun. However the NP ‘Lois’ must be assigned GEN case by the N ‘cat,’ which it is not.

Question 8

State why this sentence is ungrammatical.

* Between you and I, Harry thinks she is crazy.

A	The pronoun ‘I’ is marked with NOM case.
B	The pronoun ‘I’ is not assigned case. Hint: The pronoun ‘I’ is marked with NOM case however is part of the conjunctive prepositional phrase thus should be marked with ACC by P head.
C	The pronoun ‘she’ is marked with ACC case. Hint: The pronoun ‘I’ is marked with NOM case however is part of the conjunctive prepositional phrase thus should be marked with ACC by P head.

Question 9

State why this sentence is ungrammatical.

* No one believed him would do it.

A	‘him’ is marked with NOM case. Hint: The pronoun ‘him’ is marked with ACC case however it is the subject of the finite verb 'do’ (in the embedded clause) thus must be marked with NOM case by I head, which it is not.
B	‘him’ is marked with ACC case
C	‘him’ is not marked with case. Hint: The pronoun ‘him’ is marked with ACC case however it is the subject of the finite verb 'do’ (in the embedded clause) thus must be marked with NOM case by I head, which it is not.

Question 10

State why this sentence is ungrammatical.

*Her has decided to read the entire Space Trilogy.

A	‘Her’ is marked with NOM case. Hint: The pronoun ‘her’ is marked with ACC case however is located in Spec IP where it can only receive NOM case from I head.
B	‘Her’ is marked with ACC case.
C	‘Her’ is marked with GEN case. Hint: The pronoun ‘her’ is marked with ACC case however is located in Spec IP where it can only receive NOM case from I head.

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Morphology: The Case Filter 2.1

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