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. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






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






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






4. The meaning derived from flouting






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






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






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






8. Describing the facts - Tries to determine why people use language the way they do - seeks to find the rules that govern spoken language






9. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






11. Occurs when words have been disambigued and a sentence has a clear meaning






12. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






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






15. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






16. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






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






19. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






21. Invent new words from scratch (Xerox - Kleenex)






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






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






24. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






25. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






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






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






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






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






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






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






32. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






33. The overall meaning of a text






34. Describing the facts - Tries to determine why people use language the way they do - seeks to find the rules that govern spoken language






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






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






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






38. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






40. Describes how language words today or at any given moment in time - not concerned with origin/history






41. The ability to produce language - what you know






42. Parts of a word are translated from other languages to create a new word (Fernsprecher)






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






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






45. An utterance produced by a speaker






46. Affix in the middle of a word






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






48. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






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






50. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary