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 effect an utterance has on its audience (speech act)






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






4. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






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






6. The science that studies language






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






14. The overall meaning of a text






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






16. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






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






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






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






21. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






22. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






30. Affix before the root






31. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






32. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






33. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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






37. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






39. Affix in the middle of a word






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






41. The ability to produce language - what you know






42. A sentence in context






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






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






45. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






46. Actually saying a word - what you can do






47. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






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






50. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)