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






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






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






4. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






6. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






7. Affix before the root






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






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






10. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






12. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






14. The meaning derived from flouting






15. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






16. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






17. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






19. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






20. The science that studies language






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






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






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






24. Meaning components






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






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






27. A new word






28. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






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






31. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






33. The rise and fall of sentences






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






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






36. Affix in the middle of a word






37. An utterance produced by a speaker






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






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






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






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






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






43. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






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






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






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






48. The ability to produce language - what you know






49. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






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