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. Shift in meaning (drink a glass of water)






2. Affix in the middle of a word






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






4. The property of the surface structure of the text to 'hold together'






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






6. The overall meaning of a text






7. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






9. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






10. A black and white - right and wrong approach to language - traditional - seeks to impose outside arbitrary rules






11. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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






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






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






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






18. Aspects of meaning concerning other meanings of an expression that may be activated when irrelevant (cock)






19. Figurative use of meaning (Bob is a pig)






20. A sentence in context






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






22. A transformation in which you change the voice of the sentence (Mary stoop up John --> John was stood up by Mary)






23. An utterance produced by a speaker






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






25. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






26. A new word






27. Purposefully violating one of the principles/maxims of cooperation






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






29. Associations that an individual/small group may develop through everyday experiences (inside joke)






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






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






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






33. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






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






35. The rise and fall of sentences






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






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






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






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






40. Deals with the sounds of a language






41. Deals with how sounds are put together to form words






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






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






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






45. Mental representation of a word






46. A syntactic phenomenon where a given constituent is in a constituent of the same kind






47. The meaning of a sign






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






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






50. A syntactic phenomenon where a given constituent is in a constituent of the same kind