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






2. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






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






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






5. The meaning of a sign






6. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






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






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






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






11. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






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






13. Mental representation of a word






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






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






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






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






19. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






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






21. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






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






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






24. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






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






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






28. The science that studies language






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






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






31. The overall meaning of a text






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






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






34. A new word






35. Affix before the root






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






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






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






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






40. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






41. Meaning components






42. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






43. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






44. The rise and fall of sentences






45. Deals with how sentences are formed






46. One who knows many languages






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






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






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






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