linguistics final exam questions with
complete solutions
the unconscious knowledge of language which underlies a person's ability to speak is called -
correct answer ✔✔ linguistic competence
the observable use of language in the world is called - correct answer ✔✔ linguistic
performance
linguistics gather data on humans' linguistic performance and attempt to deduce rules and
principles o account for the systematicies they observe. the set of rules which linguists
hypothesize from a grammar called a - correct answer ✔✔ descriptive grammar
A set of rules which attempt to change speakers' linguistic behavior - to tell people how they
"should" and "shouldn't" speak or write - is called a - correct answer ✔✔ prescriptive grammar
what is the name of the airstream mechanism used to produce all English sounds? - correct
answer ✔✔ pulmonic regressive
what does the term pulmonic egressive mean? - correct answer ✔✔ the lungs are pushing the
air out
choose the word that begins with the sound - correct answer ✔✔
the duration of a speech sound - correct answer ✔✔ length
,how high or low a sound is determined by the rate of vibration of the VFs - correct answer ✔✔
pitch
perceived prominence of a syllable which may be correlated with volume, duration and vowel
quality - correct answer ✔✔ stress
languages in which variations in pitch alone can make a difference in a word's meaning are
called - correct answer ✔✔ tone languages
While there are many spoken languages, there is only one universal sign language used by deaf
people across the world. - correct answer ✔✔ false
Sign languages are all derived from a naturally-occurring spoken language. They are word-for-
word translations of an existing spoken language into manual gestures. - correct answer ✔✔
false
Most of the signs of signed languages are not iconic (in other words, they do not closely
resemble the ideas they denote). - correct answer ✔✔ true
worked--workt - correct answer ✔✔ progressive assimilation
canyon--cangyon - correct answer ✔✔ regressive assimilation
- correct answer ✔✔ intervocalic assimilation
- correct answer ✔✔ dissimilation
desktop--destop - correct answer ✔✔ deletion
, athlete--ath/uh/lete - correct answer ✔✔ insertion
chipotle--chipolte - correct answer ✔✔ metathesis
deception--duhception - correct answer ✔✔ vowel reduction
If you find a minimal pair involving two sounds, this is evidence that the two sounds are -
correct answer ✔✔ separate phonemes
In which of the following cases would the occurrence of sounds be predictable (i.e., if given a
word with a blank in it, you would be able to predict which of the sounds goes in the blank)? -
correct answer ✔✔ allophones of the same phoneme
which field of linguistics studies the articulation and physical properties of speech sounds? -
correct answer ✔✔ phonetics
which field of linguistic studies how speech sounds are distributed in a language and how they
interact with eachother? - correct answer ✔✔ phonology
Studies comparing the perception of bilabial stops with varying Voice Onset Times (VOT) in
English speaking adults and infants have shown that - correct answer ✔✔ six month old infants
can perceive differences that the adults cannot
Studies comparing the perception of bilabial stops with varying Voice Onset Times (VOT) in
infants from English-speaking and Thai-speaking environments have shown that: - correct
answer ✔✔ 12 month old infants from thai speaking environments behave like thai speaking
adults in their ability t perceive sound contrasts
complete solutions
the unconscious knowledge of language which underlies a person's ability to speak is called -
correct answer ✔✔ linguistic competence
the observable use of language in the world is called - correct answer ✔✔ linguistic
performance
linguistics gather data on humans' linguistic performance and attempt to deduce rules and
principles o account for the systematicies they observe. the set of rules which linguists
hypothesize from a grammar called a - correct answer ✔✔ descriptive grammar
A set of rules which attempt to change speakers' linguistic behavior - to tell people how they
"should" and "shouldn't" speak or write - is called a - correct answer ✔✔ prescriptive grammar
what is the name of the airstream mechanism used to produce all English sounds? - correct
answer ✔✔ pulmonic regressive
what does the term pulmonic egressive mean? - correct answer ✔✔ the lungs are pushing the
air out
choose the word that begins with the sound - correct answer ✔✔
the duration of a speech sound - correct answer ✔✔ length
,how high or low a sound is determined by the rate of vibration of the VFs - correct answer ✔✔
pitch
perceived prominence of a syllable which may be correlated with volume, duration and vowel
quality - correct answer ✔✔ stress
languages in which variations in pitch alone can make a difference in a word's meaning are
called - correct answer ✔✔ tone languages
While there are many spoken languages, there is only one universal sign language used by deaf
people across the world. - correct answer ✔✔ false
Sign languages are all derived from a naturally-occurring spoken language. They are word-for-
word translations of an existing spoken language into manual gestures. - correct answer ✔✔
false
Most of the signs of signed languages are not iconic (in other words, they do not closely
resemble the ideas they denote). - correct answer ✔✔ true
worked--workt - correct answer ✔✔ progressive assimilation
canyon--cangyon - correct answer ✔✔ regressive assimilation
- correct answer ✔✔ intervocalic assimilation
- correct answer ✔✔ dissimilation
desktop--destop - correct answer ✔✔ deletion
, athlete--ath/uh/lete - correct answer ✔✔ insertion
chipotle--chipolte - correct answer ✔✔ metathesis
deception--duhception - correct answer ✔✔ vowel reduction
If you find a minimal pair involving two sounds, this is evidence that the two sounds are -
correct answer ✔✔ separate phonemes
In which of the following cases would the occurrence of sounds be predictable (i.e., if given a
word with a blank in it, you would be able to predict which of the sounds goes in the blank)? -
correct answer ✔✔ allophones of the same phoneme
which field of linguistics studies the articulation and physical properties of speech sounds? -
correct answer ✔✔ phonetics
which field of linguistic studies how speech sounds are distributed in a language and how they
interact with eachother? - correct answer ✔✔ phonology
Studies comparing the perception of bilabial stops with varying Voice Onset Times (VOT) in
English speaking adults and infants have shown that - correct answer ✔✔ six month old infants
can perceive differences that the adults cannot
Studies comparing the perception of bilabial stops with varying Voice Onset Times (VOT) in
infants from English-speaking and Thai-speaking environments have shown that: - correct
answer ✔✔ 12 month old infants from thai speaking environments behave like thai speaking
adults in their ability t perceive sound contrasts
