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 feelings or attitudes of speakers (liberal - terrorist)






2. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






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






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






5. Affix after the root






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






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






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






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






10. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






11. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






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






14. One who knows many languages






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






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






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






18. 1. Quality or timbre 2. Volume 3. Length 4. Pitch or tone






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






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






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






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






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






24. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






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






27. Mental representation of a word






28. The overall meaning of a text






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






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






31. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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






35. A word that has died out






36. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






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






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






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






40. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






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






43. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






44. The science that studies language






45. The ability to produce language - what you know






46. An utterance produced by a speaker






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






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






49. A new word






50. The word that connects the meaning and the referent