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






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






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






4. One who knows many languages






5. The overall meaning of a text






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






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






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






9. A sentence in context






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






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






12. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






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






15. Affix after the root






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






17. Meaning components






18. Mental representation of a word






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






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






21. A sentence in context






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






23. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






24. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






25. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






26. A word that has died out






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






28. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






29. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






31. Change the meaning of a word - or part of speech (ex. child -> childhood)






32. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






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






35. An utterance produced by a speaker






36. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






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






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






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






40. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






41. A new word






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






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






44. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






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






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






47. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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