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






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






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






4. The ability to produce language - what you know






5. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






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






7. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






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






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






11. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






12. An utterance produced by a speaker






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






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






15. Meaning components






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






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






18. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






20. A black and white - right and wrong approach to language - traditional - seeks to impose outside arbitrary rules






21. Blending two existing words (motel - brunch)






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






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






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






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






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






27. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






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






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






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






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






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






34. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






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






37. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






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






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






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






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






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






43. The rise and fall of sentences






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






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






46. A word that has died out






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






48. The meaning of a sign






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






50. An utterance produced by a speaker