Exam 1 Practice Questions

All human children have the ability to learn any human language.

True

“Don’t split infinitives” is an example of a descriptive grammar rule.

False

A person’s linguistic competence can always be determined by his/her linguistic performance.

False

No two speakers, even of the same language, have exactly the same mental grammar

True

Native speakers determine what is truly grammatical or in their language.

True

Prescriptive grammar is concerned with how native speakers actually speak their language.

False

All signals in a communication system have meaning and/or function.

True

Any communication system with all nine design features may be considered a *natural* language.

False

The speech communication chain is a simple process.

false

Esperanto and Klingon are examples of constructed languages.

True

Performance errors cannot be attributed to conditions such as being tired or distracted.

False

Be able to identify an example/definition of the following:

Iconicity, onomatopoeia, arbitrariness, sound symbolism, displacement, modality

Which of the following is true about language?

The language you speak affects whether or not you can distinguish between certain sounds.

Which of the following is __not__ a feature of writing?

It exists everywhere

Which of the following statements is false?

People who say "Nobody ain't done nothin'" aren't speaking logically

Which of the following is a design feature of language?

All of these (interchangeability, productivity, discreteness)

Which of the following statements is false?

Animals have language

Which of the following is completely arbitrary?

A no-smoking sign

Match these terms with their example/definition

Syntax, phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, pragmatics