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






3. A word that has died out






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






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






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






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






8. The fact that saying something commits you to it (vow - promise - swearing) (speech act)






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






10. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






12. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






14. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






15. The rise and fall of sentences






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






17. Affix after the root






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






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






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






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






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






23. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






26. One who knows many languages






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






28. Affix before the root






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






30. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






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






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






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






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






36. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






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






39. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






40. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






41. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






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






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






45. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






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






48. The meaning derived from flouting






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






50. An utterance produced by a speaker