Which of the following trees corresponds to a potential parse of the ambiguous sentence below, with correct syntactic categories? Some diagnostics are provided.

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

PP attachment tests indicate both PPs in the sentence must be VP adjuncts (i.e., they modify the verb phrase), so no NP-internal attachment is allowed.

1) Relevant knowledge points and concepts
- PP attachment ambiguity: a PP can attach to a noun phrase (NP modifier, e.g., "the man with the stick") or to the verb phrase (VP adjunct/instrument/place, e.g., "slapped ... with the stick").
- Ellipsis / "did so" diagnostics: "did so" replaces a full VP; if an adjunct attaches outside the VP, it can remain overt after ellipsis; if an element is NP-internal, ellipsis patterns differ and can produce ungrammaticality.
- Coordination/parallelism tests: comparing a source clause and an ellipsed clause shows where PPs attach.

2) Step-by-step reasoning from the diagnostics
- Diagnostic 1: “The bear slapped the man with a stick on the ground and the monkey did so on the table.” The fact that “did so on the table” is grammatical shows “on the table” can attach to the VP (it modifies where the slapping occurred). So one valid reading has “on the table” as a VP adjunct.
- Diagnostic 2: “The bear slapped the man with a branch from a tree and the monkey did so with the stick on the table.” Here “did so with the stick on the table” is grammatical, showing that “with the stick” can also be a VP adjunct (instrument) and combine with the VP-locative “on the table.”
- Diagnostic 3: “*The bear slapped the man with a branch from a tree, and the monkey did so the man with the stick on the table.” The ungrammaticality indicates that an interpretation in which “with the stick” is an NP-internal modifier of “the man” does not survive the ellipsis test; if the intended parse made “with the stick” an NP modifier in the antecedent, the ellipsis outcome here would be predicted to be grammatical, but it is not. Thus NP-attachment for “with the stick” is ruled out.

3) Intermediate conclusion from diagnostics
Both tests (1) and (2) show that acceptable parses require both PPs to be attachable to the VP (instrument and location). The starred sentence rules out NP-internal attachment for the instrument PP.

4) Why the correct answer is correct
A correct tree must represent both PPs as VP adjuncts (not as modifiers inside the object NP). None of the pictured trees correspond to that exact configuration: the candidate trees either attach “with the stick” to the NP “the man” or attach “on the table” to the noun phrase (stick) rather than to the VP. Those structures therefore conflict with the ellipsis diagnostics.

5) Why the other options are incorrect (brief)
- Any tree that shows “with the stick” as modifying the NP “the man” is incompatible with diagnostic (3).
- Any tree that shows “on the table” modifying the NP (e.g., the stick) is incompatible with diagnostic (1), which requires a VP-location attachment.
- Any tree that mixes NP-attachment for one PP and VP-attachment for the other, when the diagnostics require both as VP adjuncts, is likewise incorrect.

6) Final confirmation
Because none of the displayed trees represent both PPs as VP adjuncts consistent with all three diagnostics, the correct choice is: None of these.

Which of the following trees corresponds to a potential parse of the ambiguous sentence below, with correct syntactic categories? Some diagnostics are provided.Multiple choice

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