Intro to linguistics

Which characteristic of human language refers to its ability to convey an infinite number of ideas using a finite set of elements?

• Arbitrariness
• Productivity
• Discreteness
• Duality of patterning
• Interchangeability

The property of language that allows it to be divided into meaningful units such as words and morphemes is known as:

• Displacement
• Productivity
• Discreteness
• Duality of patterning
• Interchangeability

Which characteristic of human language allows speakers to talk about things not present in the immediate environment or time?

• Arbitrariness
• Displacement
• Duality of patterning
• Interchangeability
• Cultural transmission

What term describes the fact that linguistic signs are not intrinsically related to the things they represent?

• Productivity
• Arbitrariness
• Interchangeability
• Discreteness
• Displacement

The ability of speakers to understand and produce an infinite number of sentences is a result of:

• Duality of patterning
• Interchangeability
• Cultural transmission
• Displacement
• Discreteness

Which of the following is NOT considered a component of the structure of language?

• Phonetics
• Pragmatics
• Semantics
• Syntax
• Paralinguistics

Which term refers to the study of the meaning of words and sentences?

• Pragmatics
• Phonology
• Morphology
• Syntax
• Semantics

The study of the rules governing how words are combined to form sentences is known as:

• Phonology
• Morphology
• Syntax
• Pragmatics
• Semantics

Which branch of linguistics focuses on the social and cultural aspects of language use?

• Phonetics
• Semantics
• Pragmatics
• Sociolinguistics
• Syntax

What is phonology?

• The study of speech sounds in isolation
• The study of the physical properties of speech sounds
• The study of the production, transmission, and reception of speech sounds
• The study of the variation of speech sounds across languages
• The study of the abstract, systematic organization of speech sounds in a particular language