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Linguistics Trivia Quiz

I present to you some rather challenging queries on the world of linguistics...good luck!

A multiple-choice quiz by thejazzkickazz. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
thejazzkickazz

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
41,994

Updated
Apr 18 23

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
3757

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

Last 3 plays: Guest 102 (8/10), Guest 109 (6/10), Guest 86 (1/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Who was considered the 'Father of Linguistics', a Swiss guy, who authored the seminal book entitled 'Course in General Linguistics'? Hint

Noam Chomsky

William James

Ferdinand de Saussure

Leonard Bloomfield

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Question 2 of 10

2. What is the name of the linguistic school which attempted to uncover 'Discovery Procedures' that are internally imbedded, and compose the underlying units of language? Hint

deconstructionists

phenomenologist

structuralists

transfomationalists

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Question 3 of 10

3. Since language is arbitrary, but contains 'Permitted Moves', what term best describes this view of communicational systems? Hint

random

games

structured

deviant

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Question 4 of 10

4. What three components, generally, make up a system of a typical language? Hint

semiosis syntax frames

sign sign signs

frames semantics utterances

phonology syntax semantics

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Question 5 of 10

5. What is the smallest segment of sound, that comprises the basic building blocks of a language? Hint

morpheme

terameme

metameme

phoneme

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Question 6 of 10

6. What is the term for unchanging, gliding vowels which combine two distinct vowel sounds into a single one? Hint

variations

diphthongs

morpheme pairs

complementary pairs

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Question 7 of 10

7. The morpheme is the smallest syntactical unit. How many morphemes would the word 'antidisestablishmentarianism' have? Hint

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Question 8 of 10

8. Which of the following is not a kind of morpheme that is found in most languages? Hint

strange

free

derivational

inflectional

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Question 9 of 10

9. What are the two main structures found when deconstructing a sentence into a tree-diagram? Hint

subordinate prepositions

determiners and deictics

verb clause and prepositionals

noun phrase and verb phrase

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Question 10 of 10

10. After, we analyze the syntactical order and construction, and find it worthy of our 'Permitted moves', does it mean that it will convey an idea cogently to us?

Yes

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Most Recent Scores

Dec 16 2024 : Guest 102: 8/10
Dec 15 2024 : Guest 109: 6/10
Dec 15 2024 : Guest 86: 1/10
Dec 04 2024 : Guest 92: 8/10
Dec 03 2024 : Guest 43: 1/10
Dec 03 2024 : Guest 104: 1/10
Nov 27 2024 : Guest 113: 3/10
Nov 25 2024 : emmal2000uk: 1/10
Nov 25 2024 : Guest 37: 1/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who was considered the 'Father of Linguistics', a Swiss guy, who authored the seminal book entitled 'Course in General Linguistics'?

Answer: Ferdinand de Saussure

2. What is the name of the linguistic school which attempted to uncover 'Discovery Procedures' that are internally imbedded, and compose the underlying units of language?

Answer: structuralists

Leonard Bloomfield's 'Language' laid down the science of language between 1933 to 1950, until Chomsky universalized the idea of language. The areas of phonological utterances were strictly analyzed, rather than the deep intentional structure...this is where they went wrong, since we know that utterances in general can be arbitrary.

3. Since language is arbitrary, but contains 'Permitted Moves', what term best describes this view of communicational systems?

Answer: games

4. What three components, generally, make up a system of a typical language?

Answer: phonology syntax semantics

5. What is the smallest segment of sound, that comprises the basic building blocks of a language?

Answer: phoneme

Phonemes on the average are 35 per language, English has 44 phonemes such as b, p, i, e, etc. The languages of the Caucasus may have the most with 89.

6. What is the term for unchanging, gliding vowels which combine two distinct vowel sounds into a single one?

Answer: diphthongs

7. The morpheme is the smallest syntactical unit. How many morphemes would the word 'antidisestablishmentarianism' have?

Answer: 6

They are anti- , dis, establish, ment, arian, and ism.

8. Which of the following is not a kind of morpheme that is found in most languages?

Answer: strange

9. What are the two main structures found when deconstructing a sentence into a tree-diagram?

Answer: noun phrase and verb phrase

Noun phrase and verb phrases also can be decomposed into smaller bundles....NP= D and N, etc.

10. After, we analyze the syntactical order and construction, and find it worthy of our 'Permitted moves', does it mean that it will convey an idea cogently to us?

Answer: No

Source: Author thejazzkickazz

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