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






2. Meaning components






3. Morphemes that can appear alone (cat)






4. The branch of pragmatics that studies deictic words






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






6. Deals with how sentences are formed






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






8. Aspects of meaning evoked by cultural or literary codes






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






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






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






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






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






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






15. The vocabulary of a speaker/language






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






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






27. Deals with the sounds of a language






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






29. The overall meaning of a text






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






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






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






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






34. Provides information about the group to which individuals belong






35. Deals with how the sounds are organized






36. An utterance produced by a speaker






37. A word that has died out






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






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






40. Mental representation of a word






41. Affixes - need to attach to another morpheme






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






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






44. The ability to produce language - what you know






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






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






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






48. Affix before the root






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






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