MOHAMMED FIRST UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION TO FACULTY OF LETTER OUJDA

LINGUISTICS S4
REGISTRATION NUMBER--------------
Pr CHAABANI 2016-2017 GROUP--

Name-------------------------------------

1. Which term is used to describe the ability of human language-users to

discuss topics, which are remote in space and time?
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2. What kind of evidence is used to support the idea that language is

culturally transmitted?
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3. What prescriptive rules for the “proper” use of English are not obeyed in
the following sentences?
(i) I have never seen anything
(ii) (ii) I can’t remember the name of the person I gave the book to.
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4.Which of the following words normally end with voiceless (−V) sounds and
which end with voiced sounds (+V) sounds?
(a) bang ( ) (d) fizz ( ) (g) splat ( )
(b) crash ( ) (e) rap ( ) (h) thud ( )
(c) ding ( ) (f) smack ( ) (i) wham ( )

5.Try to pronounce the initial sounds of the following words and identify the
place of articulation of each one .
(a) calf--------------(d) hand -------------- (g) shoulder --------------
(b) chin --------------(e) knee --------------(h) stomach--------------
(c) foot-------------- (f) mouth -------------- (i) thigh--------------

6.Which of the following words would be treated as minimal pairs?

ban, fat, pit, bell, tape, heat, meal, more, pat, tap, pen, chain, vote, bet, far, bun,goat,
heel, sane, tale, vet
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7. Circle the prefixes and suffixes used in these words and underline the root:

misfortune, terrorism,carelessness, disagreement, ineffective, unfaithful,

prepackaged, biodegradable,reincarnation, decentralization.

8. Underline the functional morphemes in the following sentence?

When he arrived in the morning, the old man had an umbrella and a

large plastic bag full of books.

9. In what ways is this expression structurally ambiguous?

We met an English history teacher.

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10. Using information from the phrase structure rules, use a tree diagram
for the following sentence:
The man saw you.

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ANSWERS

1. The term used to describe the ability of human language-users to discuss

topics, which are remote in space and time is Displacement.

2. Babies speak the language used in the surroundings; they do not inherent their
parents’s language.

3. The prescriptive rules which are not obeyed in the following sentences
are:

The use a double negation and the use a preposition at the end of the
sentence.

I have never seen anything. Don’t use a double negation.

I can’t remember the name of the person I gave the book to. Don’t use a
preposition at the end of the sentence

4.Which of the following words normally end with voiceless (−V) sounds and
which end with voiced sounds (+V) sounds?
(a) bang ( +V ) (d) fizz ( +V ) (g) splat ( -V )
(b) crash ( -V ) (e) rap (-V ) (h) thud (+V )
(c) ding ( +V ) (f) smack ( -V ) (i) wham ( +V )

5.Try to pronounce the initial sounds of the following words and identify the
place of articulation of each one .
(a) calf [k] a velar (d) hand [h] glottal (g) shoulder[ʃ] palatal
(b) chin [tʃ] palatal (e) knee [n] alveolar (h) stomach[s] alveolar
(c) foot[f] labidental (f) mouth[m] bilabial(i) thigh[ð] interdental

6.Which of the following words would be treated as minimal pairs?

ban, bun /fat, far/, pit, pat/ bell, tape, tale/ heel/ meal/ vote, goat/ bet, vet/ sane, chain.

7. Circle the prefixes and suffixes used in these words and underline the root:

(mis)fortune, terror(ism),carel(ess)(ness), (dis)agree(ment), (in)effect(ive),

(un)faithful, (pre)pack(age)(d), (bio)(de)grad(able),(re)(in)carn(at)(ion),
(de)central(iz)(ation).

8. Underline the functional morphemes in the following sentence?

When he arrived in the morning, the old man had an umbrella and a
large plastic bag full of books.

9. In what ways is this expression structurally ambiguous?

We met an English history teacher.

1. We met our teacher of history, who is English
2. We met a teacher of English history

10. Using information from the phrase structure rules, use a tree diagram
for the following sentence:
The man saw you.

NP VP

Det N V Pro

The man saw you

INTRODUCTION TO MOHAMMED FIRST UNIVERSITY
LINGUISTICS S4
FACULTY OF LETTERS
Pr CHAABANI
OUJDA
RE-SIT EXAM 2016-2017
REGISTRATION NUMBER--------------
NAME------------------------------------- GROUP--
---

1.What is the term used to describe the fact that, in a language, we can have
different meanings for the three words "tack", "act" and "cat’.
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2.Which written English words are usually pronounced as they are transcribed
here?
(a) baɪk--------------- (e) haʊl----------------- (i) maɪn-----------------
(b) bɔt----------------- (f) hoʊpɪŋ----------------- (j) kju-----------------
(c) ənʤɔɪ-----------------(g) hu----------------- (k) tʃip-----------------
(d) feɪs----------------- (h) kloʊk----------------- (l) ðə-----------------

3.What is the difference between a phoneme and an allophone? Illustrate with

examples.
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4. .Identify the individual morphemes in the words given below and determine
whether they are free or bound morphemes, suffixes or prefixes.

freedom, stronger, landholder, goodness, talkative, teacher, actor.Immovability.

FREE---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BOUND------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUFFIXES---------------------------------------------------------------------------

PREFIXES---------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.Give three transformations that the following sentence may undergo.

 The girl is sleeping

1---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2-------------
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3---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6.Use two tree diagrams to represent the underlying structures of the following
ambiguous sentence:

George saw the boy with a telescope?

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ANSWERS

1. The term used to describe the fact that, in a language, we can have
different meanings for the three words "tack", "act" and "cat’ is
“Discreetness”

2.Which written English words are usually pronounced as they are transcribed
here?
(a) baɪk: bike (e) haʊl : hole (i) maɪn : mam
(b) bɔt: bought (f) hoʊpɪŋ : hoping (j) kju : cue
(c) ənʤɔɪ: enjoy (g) hu :who (k) tʃip: cheap-
(d) feɪs face (h) kloʊk :clock (l) ðə : the

3.
Allophones are phonetic forms that don’t contrast or make a difference in meaning.
In the English and the American pronunciation of ‘dance’[d ɑ:ns] [dæns], we find
that there are different sounds in the pair, but the meaning doesn’t change. Whereas
phonemes are minimal units of the sound able to distinguish words from each
other./p/ and/b/ are phonemes because they make a meaning difference. Big and pig
differ in only the initial sound

4.
freedom, stronger, landholder, goodness, talkative, teacher, actor.Immovability.

FREE : free, strong, land, hold, good talk, teach, act, move.

BOUND : dom, er, ness, ative, or, im, able, -ity

SUFFIXES: -dom, -er, -ness, -ative, -or, -able, -ity

PREFIXES -Im

5.Give three transformations that the following sentence may undergo.

The girl is sleeping

1. The girl is not sleeping

2. Is the girl not sleeping?
3. Isn’t the girl sleeping?
4.
6.Use two tree diagrams to represent the underlying structures of the following
ambiguous sentence:

George saw the boy with a telescope.

George George

Saw the boy with a telescope saw the boy with a telescope

In 1 George saw a boy who was holding a telescope,

In 2 Using a telescope, George saw a boy
 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS S4 MOHAMMED FIRST
UNIVERSITY
Pr CHAABANI
Academic Year:2017-2018
Name-------------------------------------
Group----------------------------

1. For each word below, indicate whether the word is morphologically

simple (S), includes
an inflectional affix (I), or includes a derivational affix (D).

1. rider ---------- 6. Reader---------------

2. colder-------- 7. Redder---------------
3. silver--------- 8. Radish----------------
4. lens---------- 9. Redness--------------
5. legs----------- 10. Rotation-------------

2. In each of the following pairs of words, the bold italicized sounds differ by one
or more phonetic properties (features). Give the IPA symbol for each italicized
sound.

a. bath[ ] bathe [ ]

b. reduce [ ] reduction [ ]

c. cool [ ] cold [ ]

d. wife [ ] wives [ ]

e. cats [ ] dogs[ ]

f. impolite [ ] indecent [ ]

3. .Why is the property of ARBITRARINESS an advantage for language?

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4. Do the words [gɔ:dʒ] ‘gorge’ and [dʒɔːdʒ] ‘George’ constitute a minimal pair?
Illustrate.
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5...Draw two trees representing the two meanings of the sentence below. Be sure
you indicate which meaning goes with which tree.

The design has big squares and circles.

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ANSWERS

1. For each word below, indicate whether the word is morphologically

simple (S), includes an inflectional affix (I), or includes a derivational
affix (D).

1. rider ----D------ 6. Reader-------D--------

2. colder--I------ 7. Redder----I-----------
3. silver--S------- 8. Radish----S------------
4. lens---S------- 9. Redness---D-----------
5. legs---I-------- 10. Rotation---D----------

2. In each of the following pairs of words, the bold italicized sounds differ by one
or more phonetic properties (features). Give the IPA symbol for each italicized
sound.

a. bath[Ѳ ] bathe [ ð ] , b. reduce [ s ] reduction [ K ], c. cool [ u ] cold [əʊ ]

d. wife [ f ] wives [ v ], e. cats [ æ ] dogs[ɒ ], f. impolite [ im ] indecent [ in ]

3. Why is the property of ARBITRARINESS an advantage for language?

Arbitrariness makes language flexible and adaptable in that the vocabulary can
be expanded without any restriction imposed by the relation between form and
meaning

4. Do the words [gɔ:dʒ] ‘gorge’ and [dʒɔːdʒ] ‘George’ constitute a minimal pair?
Illustrate.
Yes, because they change the meaning of the words.

5.Draw two trees representing the two meanings of the sentence below. Be sure
you indicate which meaning goes with which tree.

The design has big squares and circles.

Big squares and circles Big squares and circles

Only the squares are big / Both of them are big

 INTRODUCTION TO MOHAMMED FIRST UNIVERSITY
LINGUISTICS S4
FACULTY OF LETTERS
Pr CHAABANI
OUJDA
SPRING EXAM 2018-2019
REGISTRATION NUMBER--------------
NAME---------------------------------------- GROUP----

1.Give examples of minimal pairs in English in which /p/ and /b/ contrast in
initial, medial, and final positions:

Initial medial final

/ / /

2. If two language elements never occur in the same environment, are they in
a.contrast, b. free variation, or c. complementary distribution? Circle the
correct answer.

3.. Using IPA transcribe the letter a as pronounced in the following words map[
], many[ ], ago[ ], village[ ] .

4.. What is the property, which relates to the fact that a language must be
acquired or learned by each new generation?------------------------------------------

5.. Use (+) or (-) to specify the features of the following consonants. The first
feature has been done as an example.

P b m
consonantal + + +
labial
voiced
nasal

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6. Separate the affixes from the roots in the following words using a slash ‘/:’
Example : train/s

predetermined , instructional , succeeded , Retroactive; corner, teacher.

lighter , confusions.
9. Draw a labeled tree diagram for the following sentence:

The girl laughed at the monkey.

ANSWERS

1.Give examples of minimal pairs in English in which /p/ and /b/ contrast in
initial, medial, and final positions:

Initial medial final

pin /bin cup /cub rope /robe

2. If two language elements never occur in the same environment, are they in a.
contrast, b. free variation, or c. complementary distribution? Circle the correct
answer.

3.Using IPA transcribe the letter a as pronounced in the following words

map [ æ], many[ е ], ago[ə ], village[ei ] .

4.What is the property, which relates to the fact that a language must be
acquired or learned by each new generation?

Cultural transmission.

5.. Use (+) or (-) to specify the features of the following consonants. The first
feature has been done as an example.

P b m
consonantal + + +
labial + + +
voiced - +
nasal - - +

6. Separate the affixes from the roots in the following words using a slash ‘/:’
Example : train/s

Pre/determin/ed , instruct/ion/al , succeed/ed , Retro/act/ive; corn/er, teach/er.

Light/er , confus/ion/s.
7. Draw a labeled tree diagram for the following sentence:

The girl laughed at the monkey.

NP VP

Det N V pp

prep NP

Det N

The girl laughed at the monkey.

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS MOHAMMED FIRST UNIVERSITY
S4
FACULTY OF LETTERS
Pr CHAABANI
OUJDA
RE-SIT EXAM 2018-2019
REGISTRATION NUMBER--------------
NAME---------------------------------------- GROUP----

I. Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following phonetic

descriptions, then give an English word that contains that sound.

Example: voiced alveolar stop [d] “dough”

1. high back tense vowel [ ] “ ”

2. low front vowel [ ] “ ”
3. voiced palatal glide [ ] “ ”
4. mid lax front vowel [ ] “ ”
5. voiced interdental fricative [ ] “ ”
6. voiceless post-alveolar affricate [ ] “ ”.

II. Which property of human language demands that the connection between the
form and meaning must be learned via memorization----------------------------------

III. Combine the following phonemes in as many ways as you can to form
existing English words: /s/, /p/, /t/, /ɑ/. Point out some impossible combinations
too.
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IV. Identify and underline the free morphemes in the following words:
missed, kingdom, stronger, follow, awe, goodness, talkative, teacher, hammer, actor.

V. Give three transformations that the following sentence may undergo :

The boy broke the toy .

1.---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.---------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWERS

I. Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following phonetic

descriptions, then give an English word that contains that sound.

Example: voiced alveolar stop [d] “dough”

1. high back tense vowel [ u ] “goose ”

2. low front vowel [ æ ] “ cat ”
3. voiced palatal glide [ j ] “ you ”
4. mid lax front vowel [ ɜ ] “ elephant ”
5. voiced interdental fricative [ ð ] “ feather ”
6. voiceless post-alveolar affricate [ ʃ ] “ show ”.

II. Which property of human language demands that the connection between the
form and meaning must be learned via memorization : Arbitrariness

III. Combine the following phonemes in as many ways as you can to form
existing English words: /s/, /p/, /t/, /ɑ/. Point out some impossible combinations
too.
Stop, spot, top, pot,/* psot, * tsop.

IV. Identify and underline the free morphemes in the following words:
missed, kingdom, stronger, follow, awe, goodness, talkative, teacher, hammer, actor.

V. Give three transformations that the following sentence may undergo :

The boy broke the toy .

1 the toy was broken by the boy

2. the toy wasn’t broken by the boy
3.Did the boy break the toy?