PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION IN INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

First Semester S.Y 2020-2021

Direction: Answer the following questions and encircle the correct answers.
1. “Linguistics is the science of human_________.”
a. quality c. quantity
b. language d. humanity
2. “Linguists don’t spend time __________ how people should or shouldn’t use their language.”
a. prescribing c. analyzing
b. observing d. interpreting
3. These are the unique systems that humans use except to:
a. Articulatory system c. Neutral system
b. Auditory system d. Respiratory system
4. Which statement is FALSE?
a. Linguists observe how people use their language.
b. Linguists have a descriptive and prescriptive approach to language.
c. Linguistics is a study of language
d. Linguists make hypotheses based on the information that they observed.
5. What is the meaning of empirical in linguistics?
a. to observe data to find the evidence for our theories
b. to conclude about something
c. disseminating information to help others
d. to use any resources that you have
6. In a descriptive approach, linguists thoroughly observe and analyze.
a. True c. Maybe
b. False d. None of the above
7. In a prescriptive approach, linguists give tips, advice, and instructions to the speakers.
a. True c. Maybe
b. False d. None of the above
8. The __________ approach is consistent with a scientific way of thinking.
a. descriptive c. both a and b
b. prescriptive d. none of the above
9. The sentence “The use of ‘quotative like’ in sentences such as, “She was like, I can’t believe
you did that!” began to enter Canadian English with the generation of speakers born in 1971.”
is an example of what?
a. descriptive c. both a, and b
b. prescriptive d. none of the above
10. The song “I can’t get no satisfaction” should really mean that “I can get some satisfaction”
because two negatives always make a positive.
a. descriptive c. both a, and b
b. prescriptive d. none of the above
11. In a phrase like, “the people who the bride invited to the wedding,” it’s proper to use whom
rather than who.
a. descriptive c. both a, and b
b. prescriptive d. none of the above
12. Humans’ language ability is different from all other species’ communication systems, and
linguistics is the science that studies this unique ability.
a. True c. Maybe
b. False d. None of the above
13. The cognitive sciences are interested in ___________.
a. human anatomy c. speech sounds
b. what goes in the mind d. organization of words in the human mind
14. The Linguistics is interested in_____________.
a. human anatomy c. speech sounds
b. what goes in the mind d. organization and representation of language in the human mind
15. What is mental grammar?
a. the ability to construct sentences mentally
b. ability to answer all the questions correctly
c. a system that all speakers of a language have in their minds, which allows them to
understand each other
d. all of the above
16. All of these are included in mental grammar except:
a. Phonetics c. Syntax
b. Morphology d. Aspiration
17. What is phonetics?
a. study of speech sounds c. different ways that language combines words to form phrases
and sentences
b. how each language organizes sounds in the mind d. strategies used to form meaningful
words
18. Syntax is the ____________?
a. study of speech sounds c. different ways that language combines words to form phrases
and sentences
b. how each language organizes sounds in the mind d. strategies used to form meaningful
words
19. Phonology focuses on__________?
a. study of speech sounds c. different ways that language combines words to form phrases
and sentences
b. how each language organizes sounds in the mind d. strategies used to construct meaningful
words
20. What morphology indicates?
a. study of speech sounds c. different ways that language combines words to form phrases
and sentences
b. how each language organizes sounds in the mind d. strategies used to construct meaningful
words
21. Semantics is the practicality of using the language.
a. True c. Maybe
b. False d. None of the above
22. Pragmatics refers to the organization of words and sentences on the mind.
a. True c. Maybe
b. False d. None of the above
23. “Sounds in the English language are not always the same.”
a. Semantics c. Aspiration
b. Pragmatics d. Syntax
24. It is the foremost property of mental grammar that allows each speaker to create new
words and sentences that have never spoken before.
a. generative c. irreversible
b. productive d. interpretative
25. The mental grammar creates these new words and sentences according to __________ that
every speaker knows unconsciously.
a. Systematic strategies c. Systematic ways
b. Systematic principles d. Schemata
26. ________is probably the most fundamental property of human language.
a. responsibility c. punctuality
b. intentionality d. creativity
27. When we say that human language is creative, it means:
a. Every language can express any possible concept.
b. Every language can generate an infinite number of possible new words and sentences.
c. Every language has a finite set of sounds and a set of principles for combining those sounds.
d. All of the above
28. These are some fundamental truths about human language except:
a. All languages & grammars are equally valid in linguistic terms.
b. All languages have some universal properties in common.
c. Every language changes over time.
d. Most of our knowledge of the mental grammar of our language is conscious.
29. All languages have a sound system, a system for forming words, a way of organizing words
into sentences, a systematic way of assigning meanings.
a. True c. Maybe
b. False d. None of the above
30. Linguistics takes a scientific approach to language, and scientists don’t rate or rank the
things they study.
a. True c. Maybe
b. False d. None of the above
31. It is the field of linguistics that studies the properties of languages that they have in
common.
a. Phonology c. Typology
b. Morphology d. Phenomenology
32. What is the process of bringing air from the lungs to the larynx?
a. Respiration c. Articulation
b. Phonation d. Aspiration
33. The vocal folds may hold open to allow air to pass through or may vibrate to make a sound.
a. Respiration c. Articulation
b. Phonation d. Aspiration
34. It is the process of shaping the airflow from the lungs in the mouth and nose.
a. Respiration c. Articulation
b. Phonation d. Aspiration
35. It’s concerned with the physical, acoustic properties of the sound waves that we produce.
a. Acoustic phonetics c. Respiratory phonetics
b. Articulatory phonetics d. Trajectory phonetics
36. It refers to how we humans use our bodies to produce speech sounds. 
a. Acoustic phonetics c. Respiratory phonetics
b. Articulatory phonetics d. Trajectory phonetics
37. What are the two triangle-shaped pieces of skin covering the opening of the larynx?
a. glottis c. glottal stop
b. larynx d. vocal folds
38. The opening between the vocal folds is called__________.
a. glottis c. glottal stop
b. larynx d. vocal folds
39. The process of stopping the air flow by bringing the vocal folds together is called________.
a. glottis c. glottal stop
b. larynx d. vocal folds
40. The [s] is a ________, made with the vocal folds held open.
a. voiced sound c. both a and b
b. voiceless sound d. none of the above
41. The [z] is ________, where we vibrate the vocal folds. 
a. voiced sound c. both a and b
b. voiceless sound d. none of the above
42. It is shaping the airflow from the lungs.
a. articulators c. testators
b. producers d. evaluators
43. The articulator that you move to allow air into the nasal cavity is called the _________.
a. velum c. both a and b
b. soft palate d. none of the above
44. What is the writing system for representing speech sound?
a. International Phonetic Alphabet
b. International Phonology Alphabet
c. Inner Phonetic Alphabet
d. Phonology Alphabet
45. Linguists use the IPA to ___________ speech sounds from all languages.
a. prescribes c. interprets
b. describes d. transcribes
46. It is the visual representation of sound.
a. phonetic transcription c. linguistic transcription
b. phonology transcription d. all of the above
47. The transcriptions all have around them.
a. parenthesis c. quotation marks
b. square brackets d. apostrophes
48. It has to do with the amount of acoustic energy that a sound has. 
a. austerity c. authority
b. sonority d. solidity
49. Consonant can be _____________.
a. voiced sound c. both a and b
b. voiceless sound d. none of the above
50. It is where the obstruction in the vocal tract occurs.
a. place of articulation c. place of distortion
b. place of production d. place of alteration

ANSWER KEY:
1. B 26. D
2. A 27. D
3. D 28. D
4. B 29. A
5. A 30. A
6. A 31. C
7. A 32. A
8. A 33. B
9. A 34. C
1O. B 35. A
11. B 36. B
12. A 37. D
13. B 38. A
14. D 39. C
15. C 40. B
16. D 41. A
17. A 42. A
18. C 43. C
19. B 44. D
20. D 45. D
21. B 46. A
22. B 47. B
23. C 48. B
24. A 49. C
25. B 50. A