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






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






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






4. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






6. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






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






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






10. A sentence in context






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






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






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






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






15. The overall meaning of a text






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






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






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






19. A sentence in context






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






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






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






23. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






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






26. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






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






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






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






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






31. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






33. A word that has died out






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






35. The meaning derived from flouting






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






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






38. Affix after the root






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






40. A word that has died out






41. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






42. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






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






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






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






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






48. 1. Airstream 2. Phonation 3. Nasalization 4. Articulation






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






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