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






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






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






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






5. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






15. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






17. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






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






19. Affix in the middle of a word






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






21. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






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






23. A sentence in context






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






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






26. The overall meaning of a text






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






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






29. A word that has died out






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






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






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






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






34. Meaning components






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






36. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






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






39. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






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






42. Mental representation of a word






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






44. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






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






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






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






49. Affix before the root






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