Deck 2: Linguistic Principle

Question 1

The system of rules that governs how different forms of the same word may be used convey different shades of meaning is referred to as:

A) phonology
B) morphology
C) syntax
D) semantics

Answer 1

morphology

Question 2

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the degree of iconicity and arbitrariness in American Sign Language (ASL)?

A) ASL is a more arbitrary language than English
B) ASL is a more iconic language than English, but the degree of iconicity in ASL has declined over the past 200 years
C) ASL and English do not differ in arbitrariness
D) ASL and English do not differ in iconicity

Answer 2

ASL is a more arbitrary language than English

Question 3

A rule that refers to itself, such as the rule a sentence may be rewritten as a NP and V and S is called a(n):

A) recursive rule
B) generational rule
C) transformational rule
D) arbitrary rule

Answer 3

recursive rule

Question 4

In English, the basic word order is:

A) subject-object-verb, or SOV
B) object-subject-verb, or OSV
C) subject-verb-object, or SVO
D) verb-subject-object, or VSO

Question 5

Linguistic productivity is best described as the ability to:

A) produce and comprehend novel sentences
B) speak more than one language
C) speak in semantically correct sentences
D) describe linguistic knowledge in explicit terms

Question 6

The set of rules needed to generate a sentence is called its:

A) phrase structure
B) morphology
C) derivation
D) constituent structure

Question 7

A theory of language capable of specifying acceptable and unacceptable sequences in a language is said to have:

A) explanatory adequacy
B) descriptive adequacy
C) observational adequacy
D) linguistic productivity

Question 8

If two distinct phrase markers can be derived for a single sentence, the sentence is said to be:

A) declarative
B) recursive
C) ambiguous
D) arbitrary

Question 9

The concept that a language contains a large number of meaningful words and also contains a small number of elements that combine to form words is known as:

A) derivation
B) lexical insertion
C) phrase structure
D) duality of patterning

Question 10

The underlying meaning of a sentence is referred to as its:

A) phrase structure
B) deep structure
C) surface structure
D) universal grammar

Question 11

The smallest meaningful unit in language is called a:

A) phone
B) phoneme
C) morpheme
D) phrase

Question 12

A theory of language that explains the role of linguistic universals in evolution is said to have:

A) observational adequacy
B) descriptive adequacy
C) explanatory adequacy
D) linguistic productivity

Question 13

A characteristic that distinguishes each phoneme from every other is called a(n):

A) distinctive feature
B) morpheme
C) phone
D) inflection

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT a major parameter of American Sign Language?

A) hand configuration
B) place of articulation
C) movement
D) distinctive features

Question 15

The smallest unit of sound that makes a difference in meaning is a(n):

A) phone
B) phoneme
C) morpheme
D) inflection

Question 16

A representation of how words in a sentence are grouped into larger phrases (i.e., constituents) is known as:

A) lexical insertion
B) phrase structure
C) transformational grammar
D) recursion

Question 17

The initial sounds in the words big and dig are:

A) different morphemes
B) different phonemes
C) different features
D) different allophones

Question 18

A theory of language that specifies the relationships among various sequences in the language is said to have:

A) observational adequacy
B) explanatory adequacy
C) descriptive adequacy
D) linguistic productivity

Question 19

The phonological rule "A word cannot begin with two stop consonants" is:

A) an adequate description of a phonological pattern
B) inadequate, in that it does not take syntax and semantics into account
C) inadequate, since the pattern can be described more generally
D) inadequate, since it is possible, though rare, for a sentence to begin with two stop consonants

Question 20

A grammar is:

A) an infinite set of sentences
B) a theory of language
C) a finite set of sentences
D) an infinite set of rules

Question 21

The derivational theory of complexity held that the psychological complexity of a sentence was closely related to the:

A) number of phrase-structure rules in its derivation
B) number of transformational rules in its derivation
C) number of recursions in its derivation
D) number of particle movements in its derivation

Question 22

Transformational rules differ from phrase-structure rules in that:

A) they "rewrite" constituents into one or more constituents
B) they apply to entire strings, not just constituents
C) they do not involve deletion of grammatical information
D) all of the above

Question 23

The relation between phoned and up in the sentence John phoned the woman with the curly hair up is handled within transformational grammar by the:

A) passive transformation
B) particle-movement transformation
C) deep structure
D) surface structure

Question 24

A sentence uttered by a speaker corresponds to its:

A) phrase structure
B) deep structure
C) surface structure
D) syntax

Question 25

Experiments that show that subjects use transformational rules and structures when processing sentences provide evidence for:

A) reciprocity
B) linguistic productivity
C) deep structure ambiguity
D) the psychological reality of grammar

Question 26

In contrast with transformational grammar, lexical theories place:

A) greater emphasis on constituent structure
B) greater emphasis on individual words
C) greater emphasis on syntax
D) greater emphasis on morphology

Question 27

According to Hauser, Chomsky and Fitch (2002), the difference between the faculty of language in the broad sense (FLB) and the faculty of language in the narrow sense (FLN) is that:

A) FLN only includes recursion, and so is unique to humans
B) FLB only includes recursion, and so is unique to humans
C) FLB contains no components that support human language
D) FLN contains no components that support human language

Question 28

Which is NOT true of the null-subject parameter?

A) It has two values, subject and no subject
B) It is set to different values in different languages
C) It addresses whether a language permits constructions without a subject
D) It resolves syntactic, but not structural, ambiguity

Question 29

Bresnan's lexical-functional grammar:

A) postulates case relations in deep structure
B) replaces transformational rules with more complete lexical entries
C) assumes that lexical encoding places a heavy burden on working memory
D) explains how we can produce and comprehend novel sentences

Question 30

Which of the following is an example of deep structure ambiguity?

A) They are eating apples.
B) Flying planes can be dangerous.
C) John is easy to please.
D) The child thinks the man left.

Question 31

Jackendoff used the examples of a parent and apparent to emphasize that:

A) we cannot determine word boundaries on phonological grounds alone
B) ambiguity is more widespread in language than is commonly realized
C) transformational rules are needed along with phrase-structure rules to provide a complete grammatical theory
D) the frequency of a word has a significant effect on how easily it is retrieved