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






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






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






4. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






5. The meaning of a sign






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






7. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






8. The rise and fall of sentences






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






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






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






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






13. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






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






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






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






17. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






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






20. Shift in meaning (drink a glass of water)






21. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






24. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






26. Deals with how sentences are formed






27. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






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






30. A sentence in context






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






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






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






34. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






35. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






36. Meaning components






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






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






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






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






41. Affix after the root






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






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






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






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






46. The ability to produce language - what you know






47. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






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






49. Meaning components






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







Sorry!:) No result found.

Can you answer 50 questions in 15 minutes?


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