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. Deals with how sentences are formed






2. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






3. One who knows many languages






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






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






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






7. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






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






9. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






11. A new word






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






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






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






15. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






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






18. An utterance produced by a speaker






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






20. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






21. Affix after the root






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






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






24. The rise and fall of sentences






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






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






27. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






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






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






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






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






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






34. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






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






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






38. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






39. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






40. Mental representation of a word






41. A new word






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






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






44. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






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






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






48. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






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






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