It appears that the grader and I were not entirely in sync about the use of triangles on homework #7. Even though it didn’t say so in the instructions, I’d indicated that it was ok to use triangles so long as somewhere on the assignment you’d written out a comparable structure in full, but it …
I’ve gotten a few emails from people who wanted to meet to discuss homework 7 before Tuesday’s class, which is great, of course—but the homework itself is not due until Thursday’s class. If you are having trouble getting started on homework 7, or are unsure of a few things, then: You are not alone. I …
Continue reading ‘Don’t forget: HW7 is due Thursday (Dec 1) not Tuesday (Nov 29)’ »
The instructions for homework #6 got a little bit mixed up with respect to the numbering. What you’re being asked to do is draw three trees, one tree each for (1), (2), and (3), following the example given for (4). So, in other words, follow the spirit and not the letter of the instructions. I’ll …
I announced this a couple of times in class, but I failed to ever post anything about it. If you are going to the BUCLD this weekend and want to avail yourself of some possible extra credit toward your homework score, the deal is this: If you write up a short summary of two talks …
Incidentally, this is the source of the examples in homework 5. I have nothing against Serenity, really, the point was more that the only reason the movie was made was that Firefly got canceled. Lest this be misinterpreted, the desire for Joss not to make movies is more about wanting him to keep making television …
There’s a bit of an infelicity in the description of the first task on the homework assignment. I think it makes sense if you back away and look at the homework more holistically, but if you’re going through it sequentially there might be a little bit of confusion. The phrase in question is: “You have …
Ok, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are a few things that I should really highlight/say/repeat before you hand in the homework #5. It was supposed to be due tomorrow, and you’re free to hand it in tomorrow, but I’m not going to consider it late until after Tuesday (you have a 1-class extension …
Continue reading ‘HW5: Surprise! It’s not due tomorrow after all.’ »
I have a large and detailed derivation of Pat must not have been sending flowers to Chris that might be worth looking at. You can get it at the link below. Pat must not have been sending flowers to Chris. This is a big sentence that I went through step-by-step, and it includes a few …
Continue reading ‘Preparing for Tuesday: Pat must not have been sending flowers to Chris’ »
To follow up the post I made just a few minutes ago, about the difference between Jimmy punches and Jimmy punched Bobby and what θ-roles are involved, let me say one other thing about that. We probably want to assume that the verb punch means something, and means something stable. And probably this basic meaning …
At least some of you have noticed (and talked to me about) the fact that it isn’t always all that straightforward to figure out whether a verb is transitive or intransitive—and by extension how many θ-roles it has. There does appear to be a little bit of “squishiness” in this, so let me say how …
Continue reading ‘On transitive vs. intransitive and what arguments are required’ »