VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY Full name: ................................................................

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Student ID: ..............................................................
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS Class code: ..................... Test Room: .....................

FINAL EXAMINATION

INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

Time Allotted: 60 minutes Exam Date:

Approved by Proctor
Dept. Chair (CBCT) Examiner Total Score
(100%)

1. 1. Score in figures:

2. 2. Score in words:

Note: No materials or dictionaries are allowed.

SECTION 1. TRUE/ FALSE (focus more on Phonology) 20 points – 2 points/correct answer

● Read each statement carefully and decide whether it is True or False.
● Write your answer (True/False) on the answer sheet.
1. Allophones are phonetic variations – different pronunciations – of the same phoneme. T
2. The maxim of quality requires information provided in conversations to be genuine and
justified. T
3. Lateral approximant consonant sounds are made by releasing air past the sides of the
tongue while making a block in the middle. T
4. ‘Source’ is the semantic role of the place to which something moves. F
5. In semantics, conceptual meaning covers basic, essential components of meaning that
are conveyed by the literal use of a word. T
6. A phoneme is the smallest unit of language that has its own meaning, either a word or a
part of a word. F
7. Labiodental refers to a consonant articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth. F
8. Derivation is the process of creating a new word out of an old word, usually by adding
a prefix or a suffix. T
9. Hyponymy is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of
something closely associated with that thing or concept. F
10. Displacement in human language refers to the fact that the meaning of linguistic signs
is not predictable from its own form. F

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SECTION 2. PHONETICS
20 points – 2 points/correct answer
● Read the consonantal/vowel descriptions carefully and decide which consonant/vowel is being referred to.
● Form the phonemic structure by combining all phonemes.
● Write the word for each of the phonemic transcription.
● Write your answer on the answer sheet.

Example:
Phonemic structure Word
[primary stress]
voiced
0 ə əʊ ə'gəʊ ago
velar
stop

0 b g bʌɡ bug

Phonemic structure Word

[voiceless,
1 l pu:l pool
bilabial, stop]

2 k a:k ark

[voiced,
3 s ɔː so:d sword
alveolar, stop]
[voiced,
4 iː alveolar, lateral i:l eel
approximant]
[voiceless,
5 k ɔː ko:t court
alveolar, stop]
[voiced, bilabial,
6 uː m wu:m womb
approximant]
[voiceless, post-
[voiced, alveolar,
7 iː alveolar, ni:S niche
nasal]
fricative]

8 n m n^m numb

[voiced, palatal,
9 ɜː n j3:n yearn
approximant]
[voiceless,
10 l uː alveolar, lu:s loose
fricative]

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SECTION 3. WORD FORMATION & MORPHOLOGY
10 points – 1 point/correct answer
● Choose the correct option.
● Write your answer (A, B, C, or D) on the answer sheet.

1. ‘NASA’ and ‘UNESCO’ are examples of ………. .

A. onomatopoeic B. acronyms C. compound D. blended words
words words
2. Which of the following verbs contains an inflectional morpheme?
A. dancer B. wiser C. lawyer D. washer
3. Which of the following words contains two prefixes?
A. irrationality B. irritability C. irreplaceable D. irresponsible
4. Which of the following words does not contain any free morphemes?
A. reduce B. replay C. review D. release
5. Which of the following words is an example of clipping?
A. tattoo B. deli C. brunch D. backpack
6. ‘Smash’ and ‘Globish’ are examples of ………. .
A. borrowing B. compounding C. blending D. clipping
7. Which of the following words does not contain any derivational morphemes?
A. fallen B. widen C. darken D. deepen
8. Which of the following words is an example of borrowing?
A. nylon B. guitar C. ratio D. ballet
9. Which of the following words contains both inflectional and derivational morphemes?
A. wondering B. interesting C. rewriting D. exciting
10. Which of the following words is an example of blending?
A. frog B. blog C. crock D. block

SECTION 4. SYNTAX
20 points – 5 points/correct interpretation. There are totally 4 interpretations for 2 sentences.
● The following sentences are either structurally or semantically ambiguous (i.e. more than one interpretation is
possible.)
● Read the sentences carefully and explain the ambiguity by writing complete explaining sentences in the answer
sheet.

Example: “Mano met a woman with a wooden leg named Aminah.”

● Interpretation 1: Mano met a woman who had a wooden leg that had the name "Aminah".
● Interpretation 2: Mano met a woman who had a wooden leg and had the name "Aminah".

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1. The chicken is ready to eat.
● Interpretation 1: The chicken is ready to be fed
● Interpretation 2: The chicken is ready for people to eat

2. The girl hit the boy with a book.

● Interpretation 1: The girl used a book to hit the boy
● Interpretation 2: The girl hit the boy who was with the book

SECTION 5. SEMANTICS
A. SEMANTIC ROLES 10 points – 2 point/correct answer
● Identify the semantic role of the underlined noun phrase in each of the following sentences.
● Write your answer on the answer sheet.
Example: She heard footsteps behind her. experiencer

1. He went to school by motorbike instrument

2. She left the keys on the table. place
3. The storm damaged the roof of the house. agent
4. He bought a ticket to New York. goal
5. She loves chocolate cake. theme

B. LEXICAL RELATIONS 10 points – 2 point/correct answer

● Identify the lexical relation between the provided words.
● Write your answer on the answer sheet.

Example: bad – awful synonymy

1. big – huge synonymy 4. sea – see homophony
2. dog – animal hyponymy 5. rose (flower) – rose (past tense of rise)
3. hot – cold antonymy homonymy

SECTION 6. PRAGMATICS
10 points – 2 points/correct answer
● Identify the core presuppositions of the following sentences.
● Write your answers on the answer sheet.
Example: . Where did you buy the CD?
You bought the CD.

1. Have you seen the new Spider-Man movie? There is the new Spider man movie
She did not go
2. She regrets not going to the party. to the party
he didn’t know
3. He is too young to ride a bike. how to ride a
bike
4. They are still married. they are
marriedthe
now
listener
5. Do you like your new phone? have a new
phone

END OF TEST
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