Deck 4: Words and Sentences

Question 1

How many English morphemes are there in the English word lawnmower ?

A)two
B)one
C)three
D)eight

Answer 1

three

Question 2

The variants of a morpheme are called

A)allophone s.
B)morpheme s.
C)allomorph s.
D)phonemes .

Answer 2

allomorph s.

Question 3

Linguistic anthropologists use _________ to identify categories of words in a language.

A)competence and performance
B)determinism and relativity
C)substitution frames
D)universal underlying sentence types

Answer 3

substitution frames

Question 4

The root morpheme in the English word farmers is

A)arm.
B)farm.
C)farmer.
D)farmers.

Question 5

The term used to refer to the fact that every language has a specific order in which affixes are attached is

A)morphing rules.
B)inflection.
C)hierarchy.
D)derivation.

Question 6

Syntax is the branch of linguistics that investigates

A)the origins of language.
B)style and genre in discourse.
C)how sounds are produced.
D)how sentences are structured.

Question 7

There are two parts to morphological analysis. What are they?

A)identifying morphemes and analyzing the way they are arranged in words
B)identifying morphemes and analyzing their phonological components
C)identifying morphemes and analyzing their allophones
D)analyzing the way morphemes are arranged in words and sentences

Question 8

Grammars designed to serve as models of " proper " speech are called

A)generative grammars.
B)prescriptive grammars
C)descriptive grammars.
D)polite grammars.

Question 9

A bound morpheme is defined as a morpheme which

A)can stand alone.
B)must be affixed to another morpheme.
C)must be part of the deep structure of a sentence.
D)must be used to bind two other morphemes together.

Question 10

The process of creating new words from existing words (e.g., creating verbs from nouns)by affixation is called

A)morphing.
B)inflection.
C)hierarchy.
D)derivation.

Question 11

The analysis of words and how they are structured is called

A)phonology.
B)morphology.
C)morphemes.
D)phonemes.

Question 12

The process of creating an affix from part of an existing base is called

A)inflection
B)reduplication
C)interweaving
D)portmanteau

Question 13

The words smog and blog were formed in English through which morphological process?

A)inflection
B)reduplication
C)interweaving
D)portmanteau

Question 14

The technical term for the smallest unit of meanin g in a language is

A)phoneme.
B)allophone.
C)allomorph.
D)morpheme.

Question 15

A generative grammar relies on _________ as a given.

A)linguistic relativity
B)the difficulty of translating from one language to another
C)the importance of correct or "proper" speech
D)a connection between abstract ideas and sentence structure

Question 16

How many English morphemes are in the English word "firefighters"?

A)1
B)3
C)4
D)11

Question 17

An affix that is inserted into the middle of a root is called

A)a suffix.
B)a prefix.
C)a circumfix.
D)an infix.

Question 18

Which of the following English words is analyzable into three English morphemes?

A)thorough
B)Connecticut
C)regrouping
D)brunch

Question 19

In the English word farmers , the - er is called

A)a root.
B)a stem.
C)an affix.
D)a base.

Question 20

The process of modifying existing words (e.g., by number or person)by affixation is called

A)morphing.
B)inflection.
C)hierarchy.
D)derivation.

Question 21

For the anthropologist, who needs to learn and use a language in the field, the most useful approach to language learning is

A)generative grammar.
B)descriptive grammar.
C)introspecti ve research .
D)Chomsky's language acquisition device.

Question 22

One of the most productive ways to learn the syntax of a language that is new to you is to identify the kinds of " substitution frames" used by that language.

Question 23

The type of tree diagram associated with generative grammar is ideal for

A)illustrating the contrasting meanings of an ambiguous sentence.
B)helping students become proficient communicators in a new language.
C)proving the existence of a language acquisition device.
D)supporting the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Question 24

Deep structure , in a generative grammar, refers to the underlying grammar that allows people to produce sentences, while surface structure refers to the actual sentences that are produced in a language.

Question 25

Describe an obligatory category in English.

Question 26

Consider the following KiSwahili data: Using these data, how would you translate the KiSwahili word ninakuona into English?

A)You see me.
B)You saw me.
C)I see you.
D)I will see you.

Question 27

Using a set of substitution frames, illustrate the difference between the two possible meanings of the ambiguous sentence "Kids make great snacks."

Question 28

The difference between a free morpheme and a bound morpheme is that a bound morpheme can stand alone, while a free morpheme must be attached to other morphemes.

Question 29

Grammars designed to provide rules that could create all of the possible sentences of a language are called

A)generative grammars.
B)prescriptive grammars.
C)descriptive grammars.
D)genetic grammars.

Question 30

Identify two uses linguistic anthropologists have for substitution frames.

Question 31

Grammars that describe the structure and patterning of languages on their own terms are called

A)generative grammars.
B)prescriptive grammars.
C)descriptive grammars.
D)discursive grammars.

Question 32

All languages employ the same obligatory categories or grammatical categories that must be expressed in speaking.

Question 33

Knowing something about substitution frames in a language helps you to learn about the kinds of grammatical categories that exist in that language.