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. Actually saying a word - what you can do






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






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






5. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






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






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






8. The rise and fall of sentences






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






10. Mental representation of a word






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






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






13. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






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






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






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






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






19. A word that has died out






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






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






22. All aspects of meaning that go beyond the sense of the word - or the literal meaning






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






24. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






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






26. A sentence in which no transformation has been applied






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






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






29. All aspects of meaning that go beyond the sense of the word - or the literal meaning






30. A new word






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






32. A sentence in context






33. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






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






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






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






37. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






38. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






39. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






40. Deals with how sentences are formed






41. The science that studies language






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






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






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






45. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






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






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






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






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