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






2. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






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






5. Affix in the middle of a word






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






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






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






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






10. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






11. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






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






13. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






15. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






17. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






19. The object which you can see - touch - hear - or smell






20. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






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






22. Affix before the root






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






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






25. The object which you can see - touch - hear - or smell






26. Aspects of meaning having to do with feelings or attitudes of speakers (liberal - terrorist)






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






28. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






29. Mental representation of a word






30. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






32. The principle of cooperation that requires relevance






33. Mental representation of a word






34. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






36. A word that has died out






37. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






38. The science that studies language






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






40. The overall meaning of a text






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






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






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






44. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






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






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






47. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






49. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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