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. The rise and fall of sentences






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






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






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






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






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






7. The science that studies language






8. A word that has died out






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






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






11. Describing the facts - Tries to determine why people use language the way they do - seeks to find the rules that govern spoken language






12. Aspects of meaning concerning other meanings of an expression that may be activated when irrelevant (cock)






13. Mental representation of a word






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






15. Describing the facts - Tries to determine why people use language the way they do - seeks to find the rules that govern spoken language






16. Affix before the root






17. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






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






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






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






22. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






23. A new word






24. Moving parts of a sentence into different positions for emphatic purposes






25. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






27. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






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






30. Affix after the root






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






32. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






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






35. Mental representation of a word






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






37. A sentence in context






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






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






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






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






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






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






44. Affix in the middle of a word






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






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






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






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






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






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