1. SUB-FIELDS AND KEY CONCEPTS INTRODUCTIONTO LINGUISTICS
2. Essential Questions What is language? What are its
properties? How did it/does it evolve? How does language serve as a
medium of communication? How does language serve as a medium of
thinking? What is common to all languages? How do languages
differ?
3. Properties of Language Arbitrariness: theres no natural
connection between a linguistic form and its meaning Discreteness:
sounds are meaningfully distinct Productivity: infinite number of
possible utterances Displacement: allows users to talk about things
and events not present in the immediate environment Duality:
language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously
CulturalTransmission: language is passed on from one generation to
the next
4. Sub-fields of structure-focused linguistics include:
Phonetics study of the physical properties of speech production and
perception Phonology description of the systems and patterns of
speech sounds in a language; deals with the abstract representation
of sounds Morphology study of internal structures of words and how
they can be modified Syntax study of how words combine to form
grammatical sentences
5. Sub-fields Semantics study of the meaning of words (lexical
semantics) and fixed word combinations (phraseology), and how these
combine to form the meanings of sentences Pragmatics study of how
utterances are used in communicative acts and the role played by
context and non-linguistic knowledge in the transmission of
meaning; study of speaker-intended meanings Discourse analysis
analysis of language use in texts (spoken, written, or signed)
6. KEY CONCEPTS
7. Key Concepts in PHONETICS Phonetic Description of Consonants
Aspects in Describing Consonants: -Voicing Aspect [voiced/
voiceless] - Place of Articulation [bilabial, velar, alveolar] -
Manner of Articulation [stop, fricative, nasal] Phonetic
Description ofVowels The 12-vowel-sound system of English
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Universal system of
symbols
8. Phonetic Description of Consonant s 1.Which of the following
is an accurate phonetic description of the phoneme / k /? a.
Voiceless velar stop b. Voiced alveolar stop c. Voiced velar stop
d. Voiceless alveolar stop e. None of the above ANSWER: a.Voiceless
velar stop
9. Phonetic Description of Consonant s 2.Which of the following
is a BILABIAL NASAL? a. [ n ] b. [ b ] c. [ p ] d. [ m ] e. [ f ]
ANSWER: d. [ m ]
10. Phonetic Description ofVowels 3.Which of the following is
phonetically described as high front tense unrounded vowel? a. [ i
] b. [ u ] c. [ ] d. [ e ] e. None of the above ANSWER: a. [ i
]
11. Phonetic Description ofVowels 4.Which of the following is
the accurate phonetic description of the sound [ e ], as in bake
[beIk]? a. Mid back lax round vowel b. Mid front tense unrounded
vowel c. High front lax unrounded vowel d. Low front tense
unrounded vowel e. None of the above ANSWER: b. Mid front tense
unrounded
12. Phonetic Description ofVowels Jaw height [ high, mid, low ]
Tongue position [ front, central, back ] Lip shape [ rounded,
unrounded ] tension Mid back lax round vowel / a / as in law Mid
front tense unrounded vowel / a / as in bake High front lax
unrounded vowel / I / as in sick Low front tense unrounded vowel /
a / as in cat
13. Key Concepts in PHONOLOGY Phonemes smallest unit of sound /
b / Phones version of a sound-type produced in actual speech [ b ]
Allophones versions of one phoneme [aspirated, flapped, dental]
Minimal pairs bat-vat; wet-wit... Syllables and clusters Onset -
the beginning consonant of a syllable Nucleus the vowel in the
syllable Coda the terminal consonant following the nucleus
14. Questions in Phonology 5.Which of the following is NOT a
minimal pair? a. caught cut b. weight wait c. feat fit d. bet bit
e. phase vase ANSWER: b. weight wait homophones are not minimal
pairs; they are phonetically identical
15. Questions in Phonology 6.Which of the following syllables
have an onset and a nucleus, but no coda? a. bash b. floor c. beg
d. tree e. Ouch ANSWER: d. tree
18. Questions in Morphology 7.Which of the following words
contains an INFLECTIONAL morpheme? a. useless pursuit b. loudest
noise c. wise decision d. great teacher e. None of the above
ANSWER: b. loudest noise (1superlative inflection) Inflectional
Morphemes: 2ownership (s), 3plurality (+s/es), 4present tense,
5past tense, 6progressive form, 7past participle form (-s,
-ed,-ing, -en), 8comparative degree
19. Questions in Morphology 8. In which of the following
examples does the vowel / a / function as a BOUND morpheme? a. ASAP
b. amoral c. a man d. about e. ago ANSWER: b. amoral / a / in
amoral functions as a prefix, or a bound morpheme
20. Questions in Morphology 9.The following words are products
of a word-formation process called blending, EXCEPT--- a. Telecast
b. Phone c. Brunch d. Motel e. Simulcast ANSWER: b. phone clipping
(telephone)
21. Questions in Morphology 10. What word-formation process
yielded the word wannabe, as in Shes a wannabe actress? a.
Backformation b. Blending c. Coinage d. Compounding e. Conversion
ANSWER: e. Conversion want to be (verb phrase-to-adjective)
22. Key Concepts in Semantics Semantic Roles experiencer,
location, source, goal, theme Lexical Relations synonymy, antonymy,
hyponymy (inclusive meaning rose flower, poodle dog, carrot
vegetable)
23. SEMANTIC ROLES Mary saw a mosquito on the wall. She
EXPERIENCER THEME LOCATION AGENT borrowed a magazine from George
and she THEME SOURCE AGENT hit the bug with the magazine. THEME
INSTRUMENT
24. Questions in Semantics 11.What is the semantic role of the
underlined word in this sentence: The students heard a mysterious
noise from the adjacent room. a. Agent b. Theme c. Source d.
Experiencer e. Location ANSWER: d. Experiencer
25. Questions in Semantics 12.Which of the following are
NON-GRADABLE synonyms? a. ultimate final b. swift quick c. common
ubiquitous d. typical conventional e. fatal deadly ANSWER: a.
ultimate final (we cant say more final, most final)
26. Key Concepts in Pragmatics Deixis are words that point
(deictic expressions: here, there, this, that, etc.) Referent the
noun being referred to Anaphora any subsequent pronoun Example: I
wanted that job so much, but it went to DEIXIS REFERENT ANAPHORA my
former classmate who has better qualifications. REFERENT
ANAPHORA
27. Questions in Pragmatics 13. Which word in the following
sentence is a DEICTIC EXPRESSION? Their parents used to live in
that old colonial house before the war broke in 1942. a. Their b.
Before c. That d. Live e. None of the above ANSWER: c.That
28. Key Concepts in Discourse Analysis Types of text/ text
genres Style and register Coherence and cohesion -cohesive/
transitional devices
29. Questions in SYNTAX/Structure of English 14. Which of the
following sentence structures contains a ditransitive verb group?
a. They have read my article. b. They seem mildly surprised. c.
They liked my suggestion. d. They consider their boss as their
trusted adviser. e. They will buy a new office desk for their boss.
ANSWER: e. Subj. V - dO - iO
30. Questions in SYNTAX/Structure of English 15. Which of the
following sentence structures is syntactically ambiguous? a. The
mayor invited all city hall employees to his birthday dinner. b.
Mr. Jackman shot the burglar in his pyjamas. c. The man with a tall
hat sits rather uncomfortably at the dinner table. d. The valet
looks imposing in his purple velvet vest. e. None of the above
ANSWER: b. (The sentence has two possible meanings)
31. Questions in SYNTAX/Structure of English 16.Which of the
following phrases would be generated by this Phrase Structure Rule:
NP Art(Adj)N + PP Prep Det N? a. A huge building across the street
b. The house at the end of the street c. My one chance at winning
the lottery d. One day at a time e. That old powerful beast of
burden ANSWER: a. NP A huge building + PP across the street
32. Questions in SYNTAX/Structure of English 17.What is the
function of the underlined constituent in the following sentence:
She fears suspicious strangers lurking in the dark? a. Optional
Complement b. Optional Modifier c. Indirect Object d. Obligatory
Complement e. Objective Predicative ANSWER: d. Obligatory
complement (cannot be omitted)
33. Questions in SYNTAX/Structure of English 18. In which of
the following sentences does the verb be (is) function as the
intensive verb or copula? a. He is feeling tired and weary. b. He
is tiring me out. c. He is tired and weary. d. He is going to get
tired and weary. e. None of the above ANSWER: c. (the verb is links
the subject, He, to its complement, the adj. tired and weary)
34. Questions in SYNTAX/Structure of English 19. The following
words belong to the same lexical category, EXCEPT --- a. rather b.
safely c. friendly d. only e. usually ANSWER: c. friendly (can only
function as adjective)
35. Questions in SYNTAX/Structure of English 20. In which of
the following structures does the word out function as an adverbial
particle and NOT a preposition? a. Shes out of the woods. b. Out of
sight, out of mind. c. The truth is out. d. I am down and out. e.
Bring out the best in me. ANSWER: e. out is part of the phrasal
verb bring out
