Question

I put this in the psychology section because there was no linguistic section.

Give the derivations (the Deep-structures and the corresponding Surface-structures) for the following. Make sure to include traces and

indices.

At the very least, I just need the derivations for:

Ralph was promoted

The feather seems to be very light

John is likely to win

The car seems to be out of gas

Answer 1

Rule:

“Everything that can be inferred as the subject or object of a specified predicate will be in the position of subject or object of that same predicate at Deep structure no matter where it is situated/found at Surface structure.”

1. Ralph was promoted. -- It was Ralph who got promted. OR Promotion of Ralph happened.
2. The feather seems to be very light. The feather is very light. The feather is not at all heavy
3. John is likely to win. Winner is likely to be John.
4. The car seems to be out of gas. The car is out of gas. OR The car has very less amount of gas