MCQs English Language: Linguistics (Phonetics, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics)
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Multiple Choice Questions Answers on Linguistics: Phonetics, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics - English Literature
English Literature MCQ - Language Basic Concepts (Linguistics)
1. Which branch of linguistics studies the physical production of speech sounds?
A) Syntax
B) Phonology
C) Phonetics
D) Semantics
Answer: C) Phonetics
Explanation: Phonetics focuses on how speech sounds are physically produced, transmitted, and perceived.
2. What is the smallest meaningful unit in a language?
A) Phoneme
B) Syllable
C) Morpheme
D) Word
Answer: C) Morpheme
Explanation: A morpheme is the smallest unit that carries meaning, such as “un-”, “-ed”, or “book”.
3. Which of the following is an inflectional morpheme?
A) -ly
B) un-
C) -ed
D) -ness
Answer: C) -ed
Explanation: The morpheme “-ed” marks past tense but does not change the word's category, making it inflectional.
4. In phonetics, which term describes whether the vocal cords vibrate?
A) Nasality
B) Voicing
C) Articulation
D) Intonation
Answer: B) Voicing
Explanation: Voicing is a feature that distinguishes sounds made with vocal cord vibration from those made without.
5. What does SVO stand for in syntax?
A) Subject-Verb-Object
B) Sound-Verb-Order
C) Syntax-Verb-Order
D) Statement-Verb-Object
Answer: A) Subject-Verb-Object
Explanation: SVO is a common word order in English, where the subject comes first, followed by the verb and object.
6. Which of the following words is an example of a compound word?
A) Happiness
B) Unkind
C) Toothbrush
D) Played
Answer: C) Toothbrush
Explanation: Compound words are made from two or more root words joined together, like “tooth” + “brush”.
7. What is the study of sentence structure called?
A) Phonology
B) Semantics
C) Morphology
D) Syntax
Answer: D) Syntax
Explanation: Syntax is the study of rules that govern sentence structure and word order.
8. Which of the following is a voiced bilabial stop?
A) /p/
B) /b/
C) /m/
D) /v/
Answer: B) /b/
Explanation: /b/ is a bilabial (both lips), voiced (vocal cords vibrate), and stop (complete airflow blockage).
9. What does the term 'polysemy' refer to?
A) Words with opposite meanings
B) Words with multiple related meanings
C) Words with the same pronunciation but different meanings
D) Unrelated word forms
Answer: B) Words with multiple related meanings
Explanation: Polysemy refers to one word having multiple related meanings, such as “paper” (material, newspaper, article).
10. Which sentence type expresses a command?
A) Interrogative
B) Declarative
C) Imperative
D) Exclamative
Answer: C) Imperative
Explanation: Imperative sentences issue commands or instructions, e.g., “Sit down.”
11. Which of the following is NOT a semantic role?
A) Agent
B) Predicate
C) Experiencer
D) Patient
Answer: B) Predicate
Explanation: Predicate is a syntactic term. The others (Agent, Experiencer, Patient) are semantic roles describing participants in events.
12. What is the term for holding two contradictory beliefs at the same time?
A) Homonymy
B) Polysemy
C) Contradiction
D) Paradox
Answer: D) Paradox
Explanation: A paradox involves seemingly contradictory ideas that may still hold truth, often seen in semantic or logical analysis.
13. Which of the following is a derivational morpheme?
A) -s
B) -ing
C) un-
D) -ed
Answer: C) un-
Explanation: “un-” changes the meaning and often the grammatical category of a word, making it derivational.
14. What kind of phonetic feature is ‘nasality’?
A) Voicing type
B) Manner of articulation
C) Place of articulation
D) Vowel height
Answer: B) Manner of articulation
Explanation: Nasality refers to whether air flows through the nose during sound production (e.g., /m/, /n/).
15. Which term describes words with the same pronunciation but different meanings?
A) Homonyms
B) Synonyms
C) Hyponyms
D) Antonyms
Answer: A) Homonyms
Explanation: Homonyms are words that sound alike but have unrelated meanings
16. In the sentence “The cat chased the mouse,” what is the syntactic role of “the mouse”?
A) Subject
B) Agent
C) Direct object
D) Modifier
Answer: C) Direct object
Explanation: “The mouse” receives the action of the verb, so it functions as the direct object in the sentence.
17. Which branch of linguistics studies meaning?
A) Phonetics
B) Semantics
C) Syntax
D) Pragmatics
Answer: B) Semantics
Explanation: Semantics deals with the meanings of words, phrases, and sentences.
18. Which of these is a free morpheme?
A) -s
B) -ing
C) Book
D) un-
Answer: C) Book
Explanation: A free morpheme can stand alone as a word, like “book.” The others are bound morphemes.
19. In the phrase “blue sky,” what grammatical structure is ‘blue’?
A) Verb
B) Noun
C) Adjective modifier
D) Predicate
Answer: C) Adjective modifier
Explanation: “Blue” describes the noun “sky,” making it an adjective modifier.
20. Which term refers to the omission of sounds or syllables in pronunciation?
A) Elision
B) Reduplication
C) Assimilation
D) Insertion
Answer: A) Elision
Explanation: Elision involves dropping a sound for easier or faster pronunciation, such as /t/ in “friendship.”
21. What is the term for the study of how language is used in context?
A) Semantics
B) Pragmatics
C) Syntax
D) Morphology
Answer: B) Pragmatics
Explanation: Pragmatics examines how language is interpreted in social and situational contexts, beyond literal meaning.
22. Which of the following is an example of assimilation?
A) 'cupboard' pronounced as /ˈkʌbəd/
B) 'education' pronounced as /ɛdʒuˈkeɪʃən/
C) 'going to' pronounced as /gonna/
D) 'friendship' pronounced as /frɛnʃɪp/
Answer: A) 'cupboard' pronounced as /ˈkʌbəd/
Explanation: Assimilation involves a sound changing to become more like a neighboring sound, as in "cupboard."
23. Which of the following is a bound derivational morpheme?
A) Book
B) -ness
C) -s
D) Cat
Answer: B) -ness
Explanation: "-ness" creates a noun from an adjective and is a bound morpheme since it cannot stand alone.
24. What type of morpheme is "re-" in "rebuild"?
A) Inflectional
B) Root
C) Derivational
D) Free
Answer: C) Derivational
Explanation: "re-" is a derivational prefix that changes the meaning of the verb by indicating repetition.
25. Which term describes the set of rules governing the structure of phrases and sentences?
A) Syntax
B) Morphology
C) Semantics
D) Pragmatics
Answer: A) Syntax
Explanation: Syntax involves rules for constructing sentences and arranging words into meaningful order.
26. What does the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represent?
A) Word meanings
B) Sentence structures
C) Speech sounds
D) Writing systems
Answer: C) Speech sounds
Explanation: The IPA is a system for transcribing all human speech sounds accurately and consistently.
27. Which of the following is an example of a homophone?
A) Book / Books
B) Their / There
C) Unhappy / Happy
D) Cat / Dog
Answer: B) Their / There
Explanation: Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and/or spellings.
28. In morphology, what is a "root"?
A) A suffix
B) A phoneme
C) The core of a word
D) A part of a phrase
Answer: C) The core of a word
Explanation: The root is the base form of a word that carries its primary meaning, such as "act" in "action."
29. What is an example of reduplication in morphology?
A) Unhappy
B) Go-go
C) Rebuild
D) Misunderstood
Answer: B) Go-go
Explanation: Reduplication involves repeating a word or part of it, often for emphasis or grammatical function.
30. Which sentence has a passive voice construction?
A) She baked a cake.
B) The cake was baked by her.
C) She is baking a cake.
D) She bakes cakes every Sunday.
Answer: B) The cake was baked by her.
Explanation: In passive voice, the subject receives the action. "The cake" is the receiver, not the doer.
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