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






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






3. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






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






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






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






8. The meaning derived from flouting






9. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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






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






16. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






17. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






19. The meaning of a sign






20. The meaning of a sign






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






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






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






24. An utterance produced by a speaker






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






26. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






27. A word that has died out






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






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






30. Mental representation of a word






31. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






32. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






34. The overall meaning of a text






35. Affix after the root






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






48. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






50. An utterance produced by a speaker