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. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






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






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






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






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






7. The overall meaning of a text






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






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






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






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






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






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






14. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






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






16. The meaning derived from flouting






17. A new word






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






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






20. The rise and fall of sentences






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






22. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






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






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






28. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






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






31. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






32. Historical - shows how language has changed through time - traces the etymology of words






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






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






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






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






37. One who knows many languages






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






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






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






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






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






43. An utterance produced by a speaker






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






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






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






47. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






49. The ability to produce language - what you know






50. Affix before the root