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. 1. Airstream 2. Phonation 3. Nasalization 4. Articulation






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






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






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






5. Deals with how the sounds are organized






6. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






8. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






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






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






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






13. Actually saying a word - what you can do






14. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






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






16. 1. Quality or timbre 2. Volume 3. Length 4. Pitch or tone






17. Deals with the meaning of words - sentences - and texts






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






19. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






20. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






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






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






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






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






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






27. A word that has died out






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






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






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






31. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






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






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






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






36. Core meaning - corresponds to a sign's sense or intension - the literal meaning of a word






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






38. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






40. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






41. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






42. The rise and fall of sentences






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






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






45. Meanings of the same word that are unrelated (bank)






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






47. Meaning components






48. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






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