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. Affix before the root






2. Noam Chomsky's idea that the principles that govern grammar are genetically programmed in human beings






3. A transformation in which you add a negation word to the sentence






4. Change the meaning of a word - or part of speech (ex. child -> childhood)






5. The set of sentences that must be true for the sentence to be true






6. Two words of different meanings that differ in only one phoneme (bit and pit - dog and dock)






7. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






9. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






10. The overall meaning of a text






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






12. Noam Chomsky's idea that the principles that govern grammar are genetically programmed in human beings






13. Words that depend on the context of a sentence for meaning (I - here - now)






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






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






16. Actually saying a word - what you can do






17. Aspects of meaning having to do with the linguistic environment in which the expression occurs (cease and desist)






18. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






19. A sentence in context






20. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






21. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






22. The meaning derived from flouting






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






24. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






25. Adding derivational morphemes to create new words (to fax)






26. Deals with how sentences are formed






27. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






29. Affix in the middle of a word






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






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






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






33. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






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






36. Two linked turns by different speakers which make sense only taken together (How are you? Fine. How about you?)






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






38. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






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






41. Multiword units - the meaning of which is not the sum of its parts






42. The meaning derived from flouting






43. Meaning components






44. A transformation in which you shift the object of a sentence (Mary gave a book to John --> Mary gave John a book)






45. The Principle of cooperation that states that one does not say what is false or what you lack evidence for






46. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






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






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






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






50. The sequence of sounds that make up a word