Did I use the constituency test correctly? Please help/ Determine which of the following bracketed sequences in the sentences form constituents. a. If a bracketed sequence is not a constituent, support your answer by demonstrating this with two constituency tests that indicate the non constituency of the sequence. b. If a bracketed sequence is a constituent, support your answer with one Constituency test that demonstrates this. 1. [The tragedy] upset the entire family. This is a constituent because after using the stand alone test I see that this sentence can be used to answer a question. For example “What upset the entire family?” can be answered with “the tragedy”. So it is a constituent 2. The environmental [movement is gaining momentum.] This is not a constituent because after using two test. The move as a unit test Preposing (Psuedoclefting): this sentence can not move as a unit. [movement is gaining momentum.] The environmental, does not work. The second test I used is the stand alone test. [movement is gaining momentum.] does not work alone, and it can not answer any questions 3. The goslings [swam across] the lake. This is not a constituent, after using two test, first the stand alone which shows that “Swam across” can not stand alone it is a fragment, and can not answer any questions. The second test conducted is the move as a unit. Swam across the lake the goslings is not grammatical.
I am not really certain. Please advise. |