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 sounds are put together to form words






2. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






3. Affix before the root






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






5. A sentence in context






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






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






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






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






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






11. A word that has died out






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






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






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






15. Meaning components






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






17. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






19. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






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






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






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






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






25. Using a word from another language to create a new word (cafe - deja-vu)






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






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






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






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






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






31. An utterance produced by a speaker






32. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






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






35. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






36. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






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






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






39. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






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






41. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






42. All aspects of meaning that go beyond the sense of the word - or the literal meaning






43. Meaning components






44. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






45. Affix after the root






46. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






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






49. An utterance produced by a speaker






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