1. Page 1 of 5
Introduction to Linguistics – 02301 The University of Benghazi
Final Exam Department of English
11 July 2013 BA Program
1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Name: _____________________________________ Number: _____________Group:____________
Question 1 Which Phrase Structure Rule is used to generate the underlined phrases
in the sentences below?
a. NP → Det. + (Adj. P) + N + (PP) c. Adv. P → (Degree) + Adv. +(PP)
b. Adj. P → (Degree) + Adj. + (PP) d. PP → (Degree) + P + NP
e.g. My family visited some places in Italy.
1. His car is parked in front of the bank.
2. Suzan is my dearest sister.
3. Hameed is always first in the morning line.
4. Get dressed and arrive home promptly before our visitors.
5. My mom got us a bag of candies.
6. He explains the lessons very well.
Question 2 Identify the domain (D), Controller (C), Target (T) and Properties (P)
of the agreement in the following sentences:
e.g. Ameer studies at Harvard.
D = Subject-Verb; C = Ameer; T = studies; P = Number: Singular
Person: 3rd
____________________________________________________________________________
1. She punched three holes along the side of those packets.
_____________________________________________________________________________
a
60
6 marks
8 marks

2. Page 2 of 5
2. My teacher found the bookcase which had been missing.
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Lisa went to the grocery store. She bought lots of vegetables.
______________________________________________________________________________
4. The doctors were operating for many hours on their patient.
______________________________________________________________________________
Question 3 Which Transformational Rule is used to generate the sentences below?
a. NP + Aux  Aux. +NP + ?
b. NP + Aux.  NP + Aux. + not
c. NP + Aux.  Wh- + Aux. + NP + ?
d. NP1
+ VACTIVE
+ NP2
 NP2
+ VPASSIVE
(+ by
e. NP + V  DO + NP + V + ?
f. NP + V  NP + DO + not + V
g. NP + V  Wh- + DO + NP + V + ?
NP1
)
e.g. Is the bag worn out?
1. Her friends don’t like basketball.
2. What are their roles?
3. Has the blacksmith smelted the iron rod?
4. The store was ransacked by a burglar.
5. When does Ali have his breakfast?
6. Salma won’t sweep the floor.
7. Do we leave first?
8. The door was locked.
a
8 marks

3. Page 3 of 5
Question 4 Explain the structural ambiguity in the following sentences:
1. She is a French Arabic professor.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Leila gently stroked her cat with a ribbon.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. The school district awarded senior principals and teachers.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Question 5 Using semantic features, how would you explain the oddness of the
following sentences?
1. His flute sang a sad song.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
9 marks
8 marks

4. Page 4 of 5
2. Our neighbors purchased a brand-new television which is old.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Question 6 Identify the semantic roles of the underlined expressions:
1. Suzan was having lunch in the dining room.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
2. My niece was trotting from al-Safa to al-Marwa on foot. She saw the Kaaba.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Question 7 What is the lexical relation between each pair of words listed below?
1. Small/large __________________________________________________________
2. violent/rough __________________________________________________________
3. bee/insect __________________________________________________________
4. wail/whale ___________________________________________________________
5. fair/unfair ____________________________________________________________
Question 8 English has only eight inflectional suffixes. Use the sentences and table
provided below to list at least six words that have inflectional suffixes. Find
the forms (words) where the inflections took place, then list the inflections’ types
and the part of speech of the suffixed forms.
1. A farmer harvests grain crops semi-annually.
7 marks
5 marks
9 marks

5. Page 5 of 5
2. The children’s rough play has broken the glass window.
3. Students stopped being lazy after we gave them valuable incentives for hard work.
4. It has been said that the pen is mightier than the sword.
e.g. The pupil’s socks are clean.
Best of luck to everyone!
Inflected form (word) Inflection’s type Word type (part of speech)
Pupil’s possessive -‘s noun
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.