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






2. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






4. A sentence in context






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






6. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






7. Affix in the middle of a word






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






9. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






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






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






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






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






14. The meaning of a sign






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






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






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






18. The meaning of a sign






19. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






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






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






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






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






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






26. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






27. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






28. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






29. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






31. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






32. A word that has died out






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






34. Mental representation of a word






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






36. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






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






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






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






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






41. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






42. A new word






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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