Linguistics & Languages (Part 1: 1-195) Flashcards

Question 1

What is the study of speech sounds called?

Accepted Answer

Phonetics

Question 2

What is the most widely spoken language in the world by total number of speakers?

Accepted Answer

English

Question 3

Which language family does English belong to?

Accepted Answer

Indo-European

Question 4

What is a lexicon?

Accepted Answer

The total vocabulary of a language, individual, or specific field.

Question 5

What is the term for a word that sounds like the noise it describes (e.g., buzz)?

Accepted Answer

Onomatopoeia

Question 6

Which language is the official language of the most countries?

Accepted Answer

English

Question 7

What is a cognate?

Accepted Answer

Words in different languages that share a common origin (e.g., Mother and Madre).

Question 8

What is the most spoken language in South America?

Accepted Answer

Portuguese

Question 9

What does syntax refer to?

Accepted Answer

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences.

Question 10

Which language uses the Cyrillic alphabet?

Accepted Answer

Russian (among others like Bulgarian and Serbian)

Question 11

What is a loanword?

Accepted Answer

A word adopted from one language into another without translation (e.g., Kindergarten).

Question 12

What is the study of word origins and how their meanings have changed?

Accepted Answer

Etymology

Question 13

What is a creole language?

Accepted Answer

A stable natural language developed from the mixing of different languages.

Question 14

Which ancient language is the ancestor of the Romance languages?

Accepted Answer

Latin

Question 15

What is the term for the smallest meaningful unit in a language?

Accepted Answer

Morpheme

Question 16

Which country has the highest number of official languages (11)?

Accepted Answer

South Africa

Question 17

What is a palindrome?

Accepted Answer

A word or phrase that reads the same backward as forward (e.g., Racecar).

Question 18

What is the study of meaning in language called?

Accepted Answer

Semantics

Question 19

What is a dialect?

Accepted Answer

A particular form of a language peculiar to a specific region or social group.

Question 20

Which language has the most native speakers in the world?

Accepted Answer

Mandarin Chinese

Question 21

What is a portmanteau?

Accepted Answer

A word blending the sounds and meanings of two others (e.g., Smog from smoke and fog).

Question 22

What is the official language of Brazil?

Accepted Answer

Portuguese

Question 23

What is orthography?

Accepted Answer

The conventional spelling system of a language.

Question 24

What is a dead language?

Accepted Answer

A language that is no longer the native tongue of any community (e.g., Ancient Greek).

Question 25

Which language is known as the Language of Diplomacy?

Accepted Answer

French

Linguistics & Languages (Part 1: 1-195)

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