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. Affix after the root






2. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






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






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






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






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






8. The overall meaning of a text






9. Affix before the root






10. An utterance produced by a speaker






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






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






13. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






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






16. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






18. A word that has died out






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






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






21. Meaning components






22. A word that has died out






23. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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






27. Mental representation of a word






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






29. A sentence in context






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






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






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






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






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






35. The meaning derived from flouting






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






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






38. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






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






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






41. The meaning of a sign






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






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






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






45. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






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






47. Affix in the middle of a word






48. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






50. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)