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






2. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






4. Mental representation of a word






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






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






7. A word that has died out






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






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






10. Affix after the root






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






12. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






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






15. Deals with how the sounds are organized






16. The overall meaning of a text






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






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






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






20. A new word






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






22. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






23. Aspects of meaning having to do with different levels of formality






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






25. A transformation in which you divide the phrasal verb (Mary stood up John --> Mary stoop John up)






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






27. The science that studies language






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






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






30. One who knows many languages






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






39. Having more than one meaning (polysemy)






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






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






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






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






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






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






46. The meaning of a sign






47. A single sound. K - d - t - e






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






49. The rise and fall of sentences






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