Linguistics Exam 2 questions &
answers graded A+
Phonetics --> (___&___&____) --> Meaning - ANS ✔✔Phonology, Morphology, and Syntax
Morphology - ANS ✔✔the study of word structure/ formation and morphemes (word parts)
<ex. plural cannot always be done just by adding an 's'>
Difficulty w/ defining a 'word' - ANS ✔✔*many different ways to count words + it's tricky to
define exactly what a word is
*are words like ball-park, push-up, i'm, etc. 1 or 2?
**can we use spaces (NO in ling. b/c that's written and linguistics care about the spoken)
**can it just be a sequence of sounds (NO must have meaning too!)
Working definition of a word - ANS ✔✔-a coherent phonetic sequence with a fixed stress
pattern
-a meaningful unit, possibly composed of smaller meaningful units (aka morphemes)
Morpheme - ANS ✔✔the smallest phonetic form that carries linguistic meaning or serves a
grammatical function
(ex. cat, carry, see, table, -ed, -al, pre-, -whelm, -s --> word or smaller than a word)
(T/F) What's encoded as a single word vs. many words varies cross-linguistically - ANS ✔✔True
('they are wise' vs. 'atamamaki' in Samoan)
11 Word Formation Processes - ANS ✔✔1) Affixation
,2) Compounding
3) Reduplication
4) Alternation
5) Suppletion
6) Blending
7) Clipping
8) Acronyms
9) Genericization
10) Back formation
11) Conversion
(T/F) Words are the smallest meaningful units in language - ANS ✔✔False, morphemes are
Affixation - ANS ✔✔the process of taking a root and adding affixes to it
Is the suffix '-s' as meaningful as the other pieces of the word? - ANS ✔✔Nah fam
2 types of morphemes - ANS ✔✔1) roots
2) affixes
Break 'misrepresentations' into its morphemes - ANS ✔✔1) mis- (prefix)
2) re- (prefix)
3) present (root)
4) -ation (suffix)
5) -s (suffix)
,2 classifications of roots - ANS ✔✔1) content or functional
2) free or bound
What are some lexical categories of roots? - ANS ✔✔nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
prepositions, determiners, complementizers, pronouns, auxiliary verbs
Content roots (content vs. function) - ANS ✔✔-convey significant conceptual meaning (can
picture in head)
-open classes (make your own! tweet! google! yelp!)
**nouns, verbs, adj, adv
Function roots (content vs. function) - ANS ✔✔-convey grammatical meaning (hard to picture)
-closed classes ("shor'nt -michael scott)
**preps, determiners, comp, pro, aux
Free roots (free vs. bound) - ANS ✔✔-a root that can stand on its own without any affixes
Bound roots (free vs. bound) - ANS ✔✔-a root that cannot appear without other affixes
(ex. luke in lukewarm, cran in cranberry, chalant in nonchalant)
Trick for recognizing bound roots - ANS ✔✔Look at groups of words w/ a common root & easily
identifiable (-ceive in perceive, receive, conceive
Why not just call bound roots affixes? - ANS ✔✔They are not productive with any other roots
(no such thing as lukecold, lukehot)
Some bound roots to look out for: - ANS ✔✔-chalant, -consolate, -furling, -wieldly, -descript, -
kempt, -hevelled, -cognito, -beknownst, -swerving, -peccable
, (T/F) Other languages use bound roots much more productively - ANS ✔✔True, like Spanish,
French, and Latin! (think nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative; never just puell-)
Can affixes be roots? - ANS ✔✔Nah fam
2 classifications of affixes - ANS ✔✔1) location (prefix, suffix, infix, circumfix)
2) type (derivational, inflectional)
Content: Functional :: _____:_____ - ANS ✔✔Derivational: Inflectional (meaning:grammar)
(T/F) Affixes are always bound - ANS ✔✔True
Location of affixes - ANS ✔✔where it attaches to the stem*
Type of affixes - ANS ✔✔the effect they have on the stem*
What is a stem? - ANS ✔✔anything that an affix attaches to
So are roots and stems the same thing? - ANS ✔✔Not quite...roots are always stems, but stems
do not have to be roots (could be another affix like the stem for -ly in unfriendly is friend* and
then the stem for un- is friendly)
Prefix vs. Suffix vs. Infix vs. Circumfix - ANS ✔✔1) prefix = attaches at beginning (un- in untie)
2) suffix = attaches at end (-ness in kindness)
3) infix = attaches in the middle, inserted into a stem (other lgs)
answers graded A+
Phonetics --> (___&___&____) --> Meaning - ANS ✔✔Phonology, Morphology, and Syntax
Morphology - ANS ✔✔the study of word structure/ formation and morphemes (word parts)
<ex. plural cannot always be done just by adding an 's'>
Difficulty w/ defining a 'word' - ANS ✔✔*many different ways to count words + it's tricky to
define exactly what a word is
*are words like ball-park, push-up, i'm, etc. 1 or 2?
**can we use spaces (NO in ling. b/c that's written and linguistics care about the spoken)
**can it just be a sequence of sounds (NO must have meaning too!)
Working definition of a word - ANS ✔✔-a coherent phonetic sequence with a fixed stress
pattern
-a meaningful unit, possibly composed of smaller meaningful units (aka morphemes)
Morpheme - ANS ✔✔the smallest phonetic form that carries linguistic meaning or serves a
grammatical function
(ex. cat, carry, see, table, -ed, -al, pre-, -whelm, -s --> word or smaller than a word)
(T/F) What's encoded as a single word vs. many words varies cross-linguistically - ANS ✔✔True
('they are wise' vs. 'atamamaki' in Samoan)
11 Word Formation Processes - ANS ✔✔1) Affixation
,2) Compounding
3) Reduplication
4) Alternation
5) Suppletion
6) Blending
7) Clipping
8) Acronyms
9) Genericization
10) Back formation
11) Conversion
(T/F) Words are the smallest meaningful units in language - ANS ✔✔False, morphemes are
Affixation - ANS ✔✔the process of taking a root and adding affixes to it
Is the suffix '-s' as meaningful as the other pieces of the word? - ANS ✔✔Nah fam
2 types of morphemes - ANS ✔✔1) roots
2) affixes
Break 'misrepresentations' into its morphemes - ANS ✔✔1) mis- (prefix)
2) re- (prefix)
3) present (root)
4) -ation (suffix)
5) -s (suffix)
,2 classifications of roots - ANS ✔✔1) content or functional
2) free or bound
What are some lexical categories of roots? - ANS ✔✔nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
prepositions, determiners, complementizers, pronouns, auxiliary verbs
Content roots (content vs. function) - ANS ✔✔-convey significant conceptual meaning (can
picture in head)
-open classes (make your own! tweet! google! yelp!)
**nouns, verbs, adj, adv
Function roots (content vs. function) - ANS ✔✔-convey grammatical meaning (hard to picture)
-closed classes ("shor'nt -michael scott)
**preps, determiners, comp, pro, aux
Free roots (free vs. bound) - ANS ✔✔-a root that can stand on its own without any affixes
Bound roots (free vs. bound) - ANS ✔✔-a root that cannot appear without other affixes
(ex. luke in lukewarm, cran in cranberry, chalant in nonchalant)
Trick for recognizing bound roots - ANS ✔✔Look at groups of words w/ a common root & easily
identifiable (-ceive in perceive, receive, conceive
Why not just call bound roots affixes? - ANS ✔✔They are not productive with any other roots
(no such thing as lukecold, lukehot)
Some bound roots to look out for: - ANS ✔✔-chalant, -consolate, -furling, -wieldly, -descript, -
kempt, -hevelled, -cognito, -beknownst, -swerving, -peccable
, (T/F) Other languages use bound roots much more productively - ANS ✔✔True, like Spanish,
French, and Latin! (think nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative; never just puell-)
Can affixes be roots? - ANS ✔✔Nah fam
2 classifications of affixes - ANS ✔✔1) location (prefix, suffix, infix, circumfix)
2) type (derivational, inflectional)
Content: Functional :: _____:_____ - ANS ✔✔Derivational: Inflectional (meaning:grammar)
(T/F) Affixes are always bound - ANS ✔✔True
Location of affixes - ANS ✔✔where it attaches to the stem*
Type of affixes - ANS ✔✔the effect they have on the stem*
What is a stem? - ANS ✔✔anything that an affix attaches to
So are roots and stems the same thing? - ANS ✔✔Not quite...roots are always stems, but stems
do not have to be roots (could be another affix like the stem for -ly in unfriendly is friend* and
then the stem for un- is friendly)
Prefix vs. Suffix vs. Infix vs. Circumfix - ANS ✔✔1) prefix = attaches at beginning (un- in untie)
2) suffix = attaches at end (-ness in kindness)
3) infix = attaches in the middle, inserted into a stem (other lgs)
