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






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






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






4. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






6. The overall meaning of a text






7. The effect an utterance has on its audience (speech act)






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






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






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






11. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






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






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






15. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






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






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






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






19. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






20. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






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






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






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






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






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






26. The science that studies language






27. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






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






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






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






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






32. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






40. The meaning derived from flouting






41. Deals with how sounds are put together to form words






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






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






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






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






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






47. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






48. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






50. A new word