DLAB Word Order and Syntax Patterns

Question 1

In Language X, the sentence 'The dog chases the cat' is written as 'Cat the chases dog the.' What is the word order pattern?

Accepted Answer

Object-Verb-Subject

Answer

The original English sentence follows Subject-Verb-Object order (dog-chases-cat). In Language X, the translation reverses to Object-Verb-Subject (cat-chases-dog). This OVS pattern places the receiver of the action first.

Question 2

In a constructed language, 'mari telo ven' means 'the child sleeps quietly.' If 'ven' means 'quietly' and 'telo' means 'sleeps,' where does the adverb appear relative to the verb?

Accepted Answer

After the verb

Answer

Since 'telo' (sleeps) comes before 'ven' (quietly), the adverb follows the verb. This is a post-verbal adverb placement pattern, similar to English but unlike languages such as Japanese where adverbs typically precede verbs.

Question 3

Given: 'kal mun do' = 'big red house,' 'kal sep do' = 'big blue house,' and 'mun tir' = 'red bird.' What is 'big blue bird'?

Accepted Answer

kal sep tir

Answer

From the examples, adjectives precede the noun: 'kal' (big) and 'mun' (red) come before 'do' (house). The order is size-adjective + color-adjective + noun. So 'big blue bird' is 'kal sep tir.'

Question 4

In Language Z, questions are formed by moving the verb to the beginning. If 'nara kito pem' means 'she reads books,' how would you say 'Does she read books?'

Accepted Answer

kito nara pem

Answer

If 'nara' is 'she,' 'kito' is 'reads,' and 'pem' is 'books,' moving the verb to the beginning produces 'kito nara pem.' This verb-fronting question formation is found in languages like Irish and Classical Arabic.

Question 5

Study this pattern: 'A bira C' means 'A sees C' and 'C bira A' means 'C sees A.' The word 'bira' never changes position. What can you conclude?

Accepted Answer

Word order determines meaning with a fixed verb position

Answer

The verb 'bira' consistently occupies the middle position while the meaning changes based on which noun comes first (subject) and which comes last (object). This demonstrates that word order, not inflection, determines grammatical roles.

DLAB - Defense Language Aptitude Battery Practice Test

DLAB - Defense Language Aptitude Battery Practice Test

DLAB Word Order and Syntax Patterns