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. Shift in meaning (drink a glass of water)






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






3. Mental representation of a word






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






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






6. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






8. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






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






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






11. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






12. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






13. A word that has died out






14. A sentence in context






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






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






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






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






19. The overall meaning of a text






20. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






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






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






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






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






26. The ability to produce language - what you know






27. A sentence in context






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






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






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






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






32. Deals with how the sounds are organized






33. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






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






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






37. The science that studies language






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






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






40. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






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






43. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






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






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






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






48. The meaning derived from flouting






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






50. The situation in which a sentence is uttered