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






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






3. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






5. Affix in the middle of a word






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






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






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






9. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






11. Affix before the root






12. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






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






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






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






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






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






18. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






20. Deals with how sounds are put together to form words






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






22. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






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






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






26. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






27. The overall meaning of a text






28. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






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






31. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






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






34. The meaning of a sign






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






36. Meaning components






37. The overall meaning of a text






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






39. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






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






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






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






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






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






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






46. The science that studies language






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






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






49. A sentence in context






50. A new word