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






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






3. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






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






5. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






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






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






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






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






10. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






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






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






13. A sentence in context






14. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






15. Meanings of the same word that are unrelated (bank)






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






17. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






18. The meaning of a sign






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






20. Aspects of meaning having to do with the linguistic environment in which the expression occurs (cease and desist)






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






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






23. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






25. The science that studies language






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






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






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






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






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






31. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






33. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






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






36. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






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






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






39. Affix after the root






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






41. Meaning components






42. Mental representation of a word






43. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






45. A new word






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






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






48. A word that has died out






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






50. The overall meaning of a text