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INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS 1

University of St. La Salle


Bacolod City

LICENSURE EXAMINATION FOR TEACHERS (LET) REVIEWER IN ENGLISH 116 - INTRODUCTION


TO LINGUISTICS

QUESTIONNAIRE

GENERAL DIRECTIONS: Read each item and study the options carefully. Circle the letter of your
choice. Should you decide to change your answer, cross out the
previous one.

1. Which theory of language origin proposes that humans may have first developed the naming ability,
producing a specific noise for a specific object, as he manipulates his tools?

A. Glossogenetics
B. Divine Source
C. Bow-wow
D. Oral Gesture Source
E. None of the options

2. Which of the following statements provides a counter-argument to the Divine Source Theory?

A. Human-like fossils showing evidence of sophisticated speech apparatuses have been found
B. In every culture, there is a deity who is the giver of human language
C. There is no evidence of an original, spontaneously spoken universal language
D. It does not place the development of human language in some social context.
E. None of the above

3. According to this theory proposed in 1930 by Sir Richard Paget, humans made the earliest words by
tongue movements that mimicked manual gestures, rendering them audible, thus this is also known as
Oral-Gesture Source Theory. What is the name of this theory?

A. Ta-ta Theory
B. Ding-dong Theory
C. Pooh-pooh Theory
D. Bow-wow Theory
E. Yo-he-ho Theory

4. Which of the following statements describes the premise of Glossogenetics Theory of Language
Origin?

A. Language came about due to man’s desire to build and maintain relationships.
B. The capacity for speech is attributed to the connection between tool-using and language-using
abilities of humans.
C. The capacity for speech developed when man transitioned to an upright posture, with bi-pedal
locomotion.
D. Language is the result of collaborative endeavors undertaken by our ancestors.
E. Humans learned to communicate because of the need to interact with other human beings as
civilizations emerged.

5. Which of the following describes the transactional function of human language?

A. Humans using language to transfer knowledge and skills


B. Humans forging alliances and organizations with other humans
C. Humans orchestrating a task to be accomplished with other humans
D. Humans ending hostilities through negotiation
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E. All of the above


6. Which property of human language accounts for the fact that what we say can be picked up by
anyone withing hearing range?

A. Reciprocity
B. Non-directionality
C. Duality
D. Specialization
E. Rapid fade

7. Ella speaks fluent French even though she is a Filipina because she was raised by her French
grandparents in Monaco. What property of human language is illustrated in this statement?

A. Displacement
B. Productivity
C. Arbitrariness
D. Discreteness
E. None of the above

8. What unique property of human language is illustrated by the fact that a huge percentage of English
words in use today are either loaned from other language-cultures or coined?

A. Productivity
B. Displacement
C. Duality
D. Cultural transmission
E. Arbitrariness

9. Which of the following properties of human language may explain why people are having difficulty
comprehending what they read due to the presence of unfamiliar vocabulary?

A. Discreteness
B. Displacement
C. Duality
D. Productivity
E. Arbitrariness

10. Which of the following statements exemplify a unique property of the human language called
“discreteness”?

A. Mispronouncing the [ a ] sound in the word “snack” will lead to misunderstanding.


B. We cannot tell the meaning of a word by simply looking at the letters it contains.
C. Acquiring a language is faster if we live for at least 3 months in a country where it is spoken.
D. We can contribute a new word to the English vocabulary by simply using it frequently.
E. None of the above

11. Which of the following accurately describes [ Š ]?


A. Voiced alveo-palatal fricative
B. Voiceless alveo-palatal fricative
C. Voiced alveo-palatal affricate
D. Voiceless alveo-palatal affricate
E. Voiced alveolar fricative

12. The following words contain the [ ǝ ] sound, EXCEPT --


A. science
B. table
C. begin
D. power
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E. element
13. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

A. All vowel sounds are voiced.


B. Fricatives and affricates are collectively called sibilants.
C. All nasals are voiced.
D. The phoneme / w / is a velar approximant.
E. / p / and / b / are also called plosives.

14. What is the point of articulation for the [ ð ] sound?

A. labio-dental
B. alveo-palatal
C. interdental
D. bilabial
E. Alveolar

15. The following words contain a velar sound, EXCEPT --

A. queen
B. campus
C. punk
D. gang
E. badge

16. How would you describe the manner of articulation for the final sound in the word fare?

A. nasal
B. stop
C. fricative
D. approximant
E. affricate

17. The consonant cluster /th/ is pronounced as [ θ ] in the following words, EXCEPT in---

A. thistle
B. breath
C. paths
D. ether
E. None of the options

18. Which of the following name words DOES NOT contain a phone of the phoneme / a /?

A. Renee
B. Thames
C. April
D. mango
E. France

19. The following words contain “sibilants,” EXCEPT --

A. chandelier
B. theme
C. journey
D. chemical
E. phallic
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20. Which of the following words has a lax vowel sound?

A. been
B. seen
C. great
D. breathe
E. fool

21. Which of the following words is contains a diphthong?

A. fought
B. tortoise
C. cough
D. vinyl
E. booth

22. Which of the following words contains a “mid front tense unrounded vowel “?

A. height
B. span
C. glee
D. sleigh
E. fun

23. Which of the following phoneme - phone correspondence is INACCURATE ?

A. / c / --> [ k ], [ s ]
B. / u / --> [ Ʌ ], [ ʊ ]
C. / q / --> [ k ], [ Č ]
D. / a / --> [ e ], [ ɔ ]
E. / g / --> [ g ], [ ǰ ]

24. Which of the following is NOT a phone of the phoneme / a /?

A. [e]
B. [æ]
C. [ǝ]
D. [Ɛ]
E. [Ɔ]

25. What is the collective name for the sounds of / k /, / g /, and / ŋ /?

A. alveolars
B. alveo-palatals
C. glottals
D. labio-dentals
E. velars

26. Which of the following words will complete the minimal set “been, ban, bun, bean…”?

A. bin
B. bane
C. bomb
D. bang
E. None of the options
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27. Which of the following words has no coda?

A. tough
B. dough
C. hiccough
D. laugh
E. breathe

28. In which of the following words is the / t / unaspirated?

A. Thai
B. stipend
C. petunia
D. attendance
E. telephone

29. What co-articulation effect/s occur/s in the word pumpkin?

A. Velarization & nasalization


B. Nasalization & elision
C. Elision & velarization
D. Elision only
E. Nasalization only

30. In which of the following transcriptions is elision evident?

A. [ fӕks ]
B. [ sӕks ]
C. [ lӕks ]
D. [ wӕsps ]
E. [ pӕðs]

31. Which of the following is an open syllable?

A. ease
B. aisle
C. rough
D. bough
E. plate

32. In which of the following words is a phoneme velarized?

A. anchor
B. bungee
C. crunch
D. singe
E. binge

33. What is the syllable structure for the word “screamed”?

A. CCVC
B. CCCVCVC
C. CCCVCC
D. CCCVVCVC
E. None of the above
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34. In which of the following words is a phoneme elided?

A. primary
B. poem
C. history
D. science
E. about

35. The following concepts are within the domain of Phonology, EXCEPT---

A. Patterns of speech sounds


B. Abstract aspect of the sounds of a language
C. Characteristics of speech sounds
D. Meaning-distinguishing sounds in a language
E. Versions of one phoneme

36. What are allophones?

A. Abstract units or sound types


B. Versions of a phoneme
C. A minimal unit of meaning
D. Smallest unit of sound of a language
E. Phonetic units produced in actual speech

37. Which of the following words contains the flapped [ t ]?

A. retire
B. stellar
C. terrible
D. later
E. atonement

38. The following words contain the same allophone of [ t ], EXCEPT one. Which one is it?

A. potato
B. brother
C. eighth
D. feather
E. breath

39. When two words are identical in form, EXCEPT for a contrast in one phoneme occurring in the same
position, the two words are described as---?

A. Homographs
B. Homonyms
C. Homophones
D. Minimal pairs
E. Minimal set

40. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. The “onset” is one or more consonants at the beginning of the syllable.


B. The “rime” consists of the onset and the coda.
C. The “nucleus” is always a vowel, a semi-vowel, or a diphthong.
D. The “coda” is always a consonant.
E. Some words do not contain a coda.
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41. Which of the following words would have the same allomorph of plurality as the words church
and badge?
A. peach
B. dove
C. house
D. class
E. path

42. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE about semantics?

A. Deals with speaker-intended meaning


B. Deals with basic conceptual meanings
C. Deals with components of meaning
D. Deals with words as they are defined objectively
E. Deals with denotations

43. Which of the following sentences illustrates polysemy?

A. We consume 12 bottles a week.


B. He asked for her hand in marriage.
C. Five new titles are on display at the bookstore.
D. That article nailed the novelist as a plagiarist.
E. All of the above

44. Which of the following statements illustrates the DENOTATIVE meaning of the underlined word?

A. I’m afraid my great-aunt Heather is turning into a cougar.


B. Beware, for there are snakes among us in this organization.
C. In the old days, only the rich can afford fine fabrics woven by skilled spinsters.
D. Those narcissistic chauvinistic pigs tend to treat women as second-class citizens.
E. None of the above

45. What are the θ - Roles of the underlined arguments in the sentence: Amy sensed Jeremy’s secret
admiration for her.

A. Agent, Theme
B. Agent, Goal
C. Experiencer, Source
D. Experiencer, Theme
E. Experiencer, Goal

46. Which of the following are reversive antonyms?

A. full - empty
B. masculine - feminine
C. diminutive - gigantic
D. lengthy - brief
E. enter - exit

47. Which of the following texts is semantically odd, but figuratively sound?

A. My car gave me a lecture


B. The weather grieves with me
C. His book drank some milk
D. Those leaves speak Latin
E. All of the above
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48. Which particle collocates with the verb in this sentence: “I prefer coffee ____ tea” ?

A. to
B. than
C. with
D. for
E. on

49. Which word pairs illustrate the concept of hyponymy?

A. Flower - Rose
B. Clothing - Shirt
C. Feline - Tiger
D. Furniture - Table
E. All of the options

50. Which phrase illustrates lexical collocation?

A. mess up
B. run after
C. sink or swim
D. bring it on
E. share with

51. Intoxicated : Sober; Benevolent : _____________

A. Uncharitable B. Generous C. Prudent D. Decent E. Considerate

52. Ubiquitous : Commonplace; Circumspect: _____________

A. Reckless B. Negligent C. Cautious D. Forgiving E. Respectful

53. Reptile : Snake; Utensil: ____________

A. kitchen B. appliance C. spatula D. flour E. stove

54. Hammer : Nail; Bread : ___________

A. butter B. food C. buns D. oven E. wheat

55. Roof : House; Wheels : ____________

A. device B. invention C. car D. transportation

56. Which of the following statements best describes pragmatics?

A. It is the study of interpersonal communication.


B. It is the study of speaker-intended meaning.
C. It is the analysis of the context in which communication takes place.
D. It is the analysis of discourse within a particular context.
E. All of the above

57. Which statement best conveys the basic principle of pragmatics?

A. An expression may be grammatically well-formed, but semantically odd.


B. Not all well-formed sentences make sense.
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C. Sometimes, more is conveyed than what is actually said.


D. For an utterance to make sense, it must be grammatically well-formed.
E. One word may carry two meanings - denotative and connotative.

58. What does linguistic context or “co-text” refer to?

A. The conceptual meaning of words


B. The shared knowledge and assumptions
C. The surrounding words
D. The listener’s background knowledge
E. The situation where speech happens

59. What are “indexicals”?

A. Linguistic forms used in referring to a concept


B. Linguistic forms used as subsequent reference to an introduced concept
C. Linguistic forms used as noun markers
D. Linguistic forms used to accomplish pointing
E. Linguistic forms used to accomplish a lexical function

60. What pragmatic concept is required to make sense of the statement, “I can’t dig Ayn Rand, no
matter how many times I read her.”

A. Deixis
B. Reference
C. Co-text
D. Anaphora
E. Inference

61. How many deictic expressions are found in this sentence: It might not be his concern now, but it
surely will be by the time they find out he was there yesterday.

A. 6
B. 8
C. 4
D. 7
E. 5

62. What the speaker assumes is true or is known by the hearer is called --

A. Inference
B. Reference
C. Presupposition
D. Biases
E. Cataphora

63. What is the “referent” in this sentence: When the Titanic sank during her maiden voyage, she was
famously known as “The Unsinkable.”

A. She
B. Titanic
C. Voyage
D. Maiden
E. Unsinkable

64. What pragmatic concept will help the listener make sense of the following utterances:
Speaker A: What time is it?
Speaker B: The milkman just passed by.
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A. Co-text
B. Reference
C. Inference
D. Presupposition
E. Deixis

65. In pragmatics, what does the “Constancy Under Negation Test”reveal?

A. The untruthfulness of the utterance


B. The underlying presupposition
C. The opposite of what is being said
D. The hidden or implied meaning
E. All of the above

66. Which of the following is NOT an example of hypocorism?

A. rookie
B. movie
C. blankie
D. hubby
E. bookie

67. What processes are involved in the phrase “chauffeured limo”?

A. Borrowing , loan-translation, and clipping


B. Borrowing, conversion, and clipping
C. Borrowing, derivation, and clipping
D. Borrowing, backformation, and clipping
E. Borrowing, coinage, and loan-translation

68. Which of the following words can undergo a “functional shift” into an action word without
reduction?
A. paper
B. clay
C. metal
D. plastic
E. stone

69. What word formation processes are involved in the creation of the word prenup?

A. Blending & clipping


B. Derivation & blending
C. Derivation & clipping
D. Derivation & acronym
E. Acronym & clipping

70. Which of the following words does not belong to the group?

A. postpone
B. multiverse
C. monogamy
D. bicameral
E. microbiology

71. Which of the following has a Zero-Morph (Ø) allomorph of plurality?

A. equipment
B. cactus
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C. fish
D. child
E. antenna

72. In which of the following phrases does / -er / function as a derivational morpheme?

A. No greater love
B. For richer or for poorer
C. Find a cooler place
D. Bolder than you think
E. Put it in the cooler

73. How many morphemes does the word “anti-homosexuality” contain ?

A. 5
B. 6
C. 7
D. 8
E. 9

74. Which of the following words was first compounded, then converted?

A. waspish
B. wannabe
C. carjacking
D. snowballed
E. post-mortem

75. Which underlined word is a result of backformation?

A. He’s such a cheat


B. I opt for what’s cheap
C. It’s the flu
D. Butter your toast
E. Why don’t you Google it?

76. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. All inflectional morphemes are suffixes.


B. The suffix -er is a derivational morpheme.
C. Adding a derivational morpheme will result in a new word of a different grammatical category.
D. Inflectional morphemes do not produce new words.
E. Lexical morphemes are content words.

77. When does the allomorph of plurality [- IZ ] occur?

A. Elsewhere following voiced consonants and vowels


B. In certain special nouns in English
C. Following all other voiceless consonants
D. In words that end with fricatives and affricates
E. Elsewhere following voiced consonants

78. Which of the following words has Zero-Morph of plurality?

A. ox
B. child
C. syllabus
D. people
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E. information

79. The following words share the same allomorph of plurality, EXCEPT---

A. grave
B. watch
C. bridge
D. sash
E. peach

80. How many morphs realize the lexical morpheme “disabilities”?

A. 3
B. 4
C. 2
D. 5
E. 6

81. Which of the following words has the same DISTRIBUTION as the word “naivete”?

A. careless
B. involve
C. oftentimes
D. truth
E. unite

82. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

A. Each word has a restricted range of possible functions.


B. Words that belong to the same lexical category can substitute each other.
C. The function of a word is determined by its distribution.
D. Words that have the same range of function can combine with the same other elements.
E. There are no restrictions on how the words can combine to form grammatical phrases.

83. To which lexical category does the underlined word in this sentence belong: I don’t regret not
showing up at his wedding; besides, I was indisposed as I was sick that day.

A. Preposition
B. Adverb
C. Conjunction
D. Post-position
E. Determiner

84. Which of the following is a “Determiner Phrase” (DP)?

A. Huge house
B. Several employees
C. Her cousin
D. All of the above
E. None of the above

85. Which of the following is the linguistic definition of a “phrase”?

A. A sequence of words that can function as a constituent of a sentence


B. A sequence of words that does not express a complete thought
C. A sequence of words that has a subject, but no predicate
D. A sequence of words that is similar to a clause
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E. A sequence of words that has a predicate, but no subject

86. Which is the correct representation of the syntactic description: A Noun Phrase consists of only one
of the following: a determiner, an optional adjective and a noun; a pronoun; or a proper noun ?

A. NP --> [ D (Adj.) N, Pron., PN ]


B. NP--> { D Adj. N, Pron. PN }
C. NP --> ( D Adj. D); (Pron.); (PN)
D. D (Adj.) N
NP --> Pron.
PN

E. D (Art.) N
NP --> Pron.
PN

87. Which of the following sequence of words has the following Phrase Structure: S --> NP VP PP,
Where: NP --> D (Adv.) (Adj.) N
VP --> Vgrp
PP --> P D PN

A. His world-famous song is playing on my Hi-Fi.


B. That overly familiar celebrity has been to the Oscars.
C. A newly constructed building stands next to Ritz Carlton.
D. My old, bachelor cousin will run for President.
E. None of the above

88. Which of the following sentences contains a “syntactically ambiguous” constituent?

A. Everybody kneads flour.


B. The mayor and town doctor went to work even on a holiday.
C. He’s looking for his new world map.
D. I saw my old friend at the mall.
E. All of the above

89. In which of the following phrases can you find a pronoun functioning as a determiner?

A. Me and my big mouth


B. Our ancestral house
C. That her husband saw
D. Their grandparent’s property
E. All of the above

90. Which of the following is NOT an adverb phrase (AdvP)?

A. only truth
B. very brief
C. almost never right
D. rather friendly
E. truly amazing

91. Which of the following words can substitute the word “relatively” in a sentence?

A. almost
B. friendly
C. absolute
D. definite
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E. All of the above

92. Which word pairs would have the same distribution when used in a sentence?

A. besides, across
B. folly, decision
C. brazen, hasten
D. genuinely, bashful
E. certain, completely

93. How many words in this sentence function as a determiner: “My bachelor uncle found the love of
his life three days before his 65th birthday while he was staying at our family friend’s villa.”

A. 3
B. 4
C. 5
D. 6
E. 7

94. Which sentence contains an adverb modifying another adverb?

A. I’ve found the only workable solution to our problem .


B. Holly told me a truly unbelievable version of that controversial issue.
C. My parents constantly and religiously remind me to save for the rainy days.
D. Dad would always gently tap me on the shoulder when I need support.
E. Hailee is a truly remarkable and versatile actor of her generation.

95. What lexical category can make this sentence grammatical: “My parents stayed married __________
the trials that rocked their relationship these past 40 years.”

A. verb
B. preposition
C. conjunction
D. adverb
E. adjective

96. Which technique in describing the structure of a sentence and its constituents shows both the linear
and hierarchical ordering of elements?

A. Phrase Structure Rules


B. Bracketing and Labeling
C. Syntactic Tree
D. Only Bracketing of Constituents
E. Both Phrase Structure and Syntactic Tree

97. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Discourse?

A. It involves the transfer of information from one person to another.


B. It can happen orally or in written format.
C. Deals with speech acts or functions of communication
D. Deals with genre or the type and structure of language used to imply purpose and context
E. All of the above

98. Who coined the term "speech act" in his book, How to Do Things with Words, published
posthumously in 1962?

A. John L. Austin
B. John R. Searle
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C. Stephen Krashen
D. Jim Cummins
E. Noam Chomsky

99. The following are the objects of discourse analysis (DA), EXCEPT---

A. Impact of culture and the society on language use


B. Coherent sequences of sentences
C. Turn-taking in conversations
D. Communicative events or speech events
E. Language use beyond the sentence boundary

100. Who classified the types of illocutionary acts into five in 1979, namely representatives, directives,
commissives, declaratives, and expressives?

A. Michel Focault
B. Jack Richards
C. John R. Searle
D. Victoria Fromkin
E. Stephen Krashen

Prepared by:
Ms. Hazel P Atilano
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02/ 22/ 2022

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