UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
EXAMINATION FOR INTERNAL STUDENTS
MODULE CODE ENGL0075
ASSESSMENT ENGL0075A7PA
PATTERN
MODULE NAME Modern English Grammar
LEVEL: Postgraduate
DATE 20 May 2019
TIME 14:30
TIME ALLOWED 3 hrs
This paper is suitable for candidates who attended classes for this
module in the following academic year(s):
Year
2018
EXAMINATION PAPER CANNOT BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAM HALL. PLACE EXAM
PAPER AND ALL COMPLETED SCRIPTS INSIDE THE EXAMINATION ENVELOPE
Hall Instructions
Standard Calculators N
Non-Standard N
Calculators
TURN OVER
ENGL0075
MA in English Linguistics 2018-2019
Paper 1: Modern English Grammar
Time allowed: three hours.
Answer THREE of the fllowing questions.
DO NOT use substantially the same material for more than one answer, whether on this paper or
in other parts of the examination.
Candidates are reminded that legible handwriting is essential.
1. Can English be classifed as lef-branching or right-branching Illustrate your answer with
examples.
2. What is the diference between the notions ‘primary tense’ and ‘secondary tense’
3. Provide a motivated frmal and functional analysis of the fllowing sentence:
We encouraged the bank to compensate its customers.
4. Why do we need to make a distinction in grammar between complements and adjuncts
5. Explain the diference between scalar and non-scalar comparisons in English.
Write short essays on any two of the fllowing concepts:
a. relative pronoun
b. nonfnite clause
c. mood
d. gerund-participle
7. Explain how the distinctive characteristics of X-bar syntax allow a more detailed representation
of the interal structure of the object noun phrase in the fllowing sentence than is possible using
a ‘fat’ representation.
I bought a big red chair with a headrest.
8 Discuss and compare nativist and non-nativist (learning-based) perspectives on language
acquisition and processing. How do the data support the two positions Which aspects of
language would have to be learned and which could possibly be innate
9. Write an essay about the grammar of interrogative clauses in English.
1 TURN OVER
6.
ENGL0075
10. To what extent can grammatical categories be considered rigid Illustrate your answer with
examples.
11. What kind of fnctional elements can appear befre the head in noun phrases, and what frm do
they assume
12. Write an essay on the diferences between ascriptive and specifying be.
13. Using the examples below as a starting-point, and adding others if you wish, discuss the diferent
ways in which infrmation can be packaged in English.
a. It is a fct that a single man who is rich needs a wif.
b. That a single man who is rich needs a wif is a fct.
c. It is a fct that what a single man who is rich needs is a wif.
d. A fct is that a single man who is rich needs a wif.
2 END OF PAPER
