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. Figurative use of meaning (Bob is a pig)






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






10. One who knows many languages






11. Affix in the middle of a word






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






13. Affix after the root






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






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






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






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






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






19. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






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






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






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






24. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






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






26. One who knows many languages






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






28. The meaning of a sign






29. Mental representation of a word






30. The meaning derived from flouting






31. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






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






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






35. Affix in the middle of a word






36. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






38. A word that has died out






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






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






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






42. The meaning derived from flouting






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






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






45. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






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






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






48. A sentence in context






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






50. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words