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






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






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






4. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






5. The rise and fall of sentences






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






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






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






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






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






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






12. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






13. A sentence in context






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






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






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






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






18. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






20. The science that studies language






21. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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






25. Mental representation of a word






26. Affix after the root






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






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






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






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






31. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






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






34. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






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






37. Deals with how the sounds are organized






38. Meanings of the same word that are unrelated (bank)






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






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






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






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






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






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






45. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






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






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






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






50. An utterance produced by a speaker