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






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






3. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






5. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






7. The overall meaning of a text






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






9. A black and white - right and wrong approach to language - traditional - seeks to impose outside arbitrary rules






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






11. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






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






13. Deals with the sounds of a language






14. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






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






16. The meaning derived from flouting






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






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






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






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






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






22. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






25. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






26. A black and white - right and wrong approach to language - traditional - seeks to impose outside arbitrary rules






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






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






29. Affix before the root






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






31. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






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






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






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






36. The rise and fall of sentences






37. The meaning of a sign






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






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






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






41. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






42. Affix in the middle of a word






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






44. An utterance produced by a speaker






45. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






46. An utterance produced by a speaker






47. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






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






50. The situation in which a sentence is uttered