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 vocabulary of a speaker/language






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






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






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






5. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






7. Breaking a word down by the way it looks and adding morphemes (workaholic - veggieburger)






8. The science that studies language






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






19. Deals with how the sounds are organized






20. The connection between shape and meaning is arbitrary






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






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






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






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






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






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






27. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






28. Deals with how the sounds are organized






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






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






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






32. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






33. The overall meaning of a text






34. The sequence of sounds that make up a word






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






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






37. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






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






40. The science that studies language






41. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






42. The meaning of a sign






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






44. Affix before the root






45. The situation in which a sentence is uttered






46. The meaning of a sign






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






48. The word that connects the meaning and the referent






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






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