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






2. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






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






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






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






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






8. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






9. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






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






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






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






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






14. Mental representation of a word






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






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






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






18. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






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






21. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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






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






26. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






27. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






29. A sentence in context






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






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






32. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






33. One who knows many languages






34. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






36. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






37. The science that studies language






38. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






40. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






42. Figurative use of meaning (Bob is a pig)






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






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






45. The meaning derived from flouting






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






47. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






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






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






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