Test your basic knowledge |

Linguistics Basics

Subject : humanities
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Actually saying a word - what you can do






2. A single sound. K - d - t - e






3. The principle of cooperation that states to avoid obscurity and ambiguity - be brief and orderly






4. 1. Representations 2. Directives 3. Expressives 4. Commissives 5. Declaratives






5. A word that has died out






6. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






7. The object which you can see - touch - hear - or smell






8. Meaning components






9. When a public body decides which language will be taught in schools - what languages public employees must know - etc






10. A transformation in which you divide the phrasal verb (Mary stood up John --> Mary stoop John up)






11. 1. Vowels (no obstruction) 2. Stops (complete obstruction) 3. Fricatives (Partial occlusion)






12. Using a word from another language to create a new word (cafe - deja-vu)






13. Putting two old words together to make a new word (railway)






14. How sentences and texts are used in the world(context)






15. Combined phonemes - the smallest unit of language with a distinct meaning






16. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






17. Breaking a word down by the way it looks and adding morphemes (workaholic - veggieburger)






18. One who knows many languages






19. Moving parts of a sentence into different positions for emphatic purposes






20. Aspects of meaning having to do with different levels of formality






21. When a public body decides which language will be taught in schools - what languages public employees must know - etc






22. Deals with how the sounds are organized






23. Required by syntax - mark grammatical categories (plurality - tense - comparative - etc) suffixes only






24. The fact that saying something commits you to it (vow - promise - swearing) (speech act)






25. Aspects of meaning having to do with feelings or attitudes of speakers (liberal - terrorist)






26. Using the initial letters of a set of words (NFL - NASA)






27. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






28. An utterance produced by a speaker






29. What can be deduced from the sentence's literal meaning






30. A sentence in context






31. Combined phonemes - the smallest unit of language with a distinct meaning






32. Historical - shows how language has changed through time - traces the etymology of words






33. The effect an utterance has on its audience (speech act)






34. Used by linguists to represent sounds in the languages of the world






35. The principle of cooperation that requires you be as informative as required but not more than that






36. Using the initial letters of a set of words (NFL - NASA)






37. What we say in a literal sense (speech act)






38. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






39. The science that studies language






40. Affix after the root






41. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






42. Shortening a longer word (phone - auto) to create new words






43. The fact that saying something commits you to it (vow - promise - swearing) (speech act)






44. Required by syntax - mark grammatical categories (plurality - tense - comparative - etc) suffixes only






45. A transformation in which you add an auxiliary verb and switching to question format






46. Affix in the middle of a word






47. 1. Vowels (no obstruction) 2. Stops (complete obstruction) 3. Fricatives (Partial occlusion)






48. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






49. An utterance produced by a speaker






50. The meaning derived from flouting