MIDTERM PRACTICE Flashcards
(151 cards)
Identify the class of the following taboo word:
pussy (meaning ‘cat’, can be used as a term for female genitalia)
faunality
Identify the class of the following taboo word:
tits (‘breasts’)
obscenity
Identify the class of the following taboo word:
ass (meaning ‘donkey’, can be used as a term for ‘backside’)
faunality
Identify the class of the following taboo word:
coon (short for ‘racoon’, historically used as a negative term for blacks)
faunality
Identify the class of the following taboo word:
cunt (‘vagina’)
obscenity
Identify the class of the following taboo word:
n-word (in America, a term historically used against blacks)
epithet/slur
Identify whether the underlined taboo word is being used primarily with informative, emotive or sociative use:
I heard that fucking asshole Max wants to FUCK Mary.
informative
Name the type of emotive swearing exemplified in the following:
HOLY SHIT! That is some great beer!
exclamatory
Name the type of sociative swearing exemplified in the following:
I SWEAR TO CHRIST I never touched any of that money!
oath-making
Imagine you overhear a conversation and notice some swear words in the speech. In this exchange, is the underlined word being used or mentioned? If mentioned, which type of mention?
A: I hate it when TAs swear in class.
B: Yeah it’s so awkward. Yesterday, my TA said “SHIT” when she forgot our homeworks. Made us all uncomfortable.
mention qua quote
Imagine you overhear a conversation and notice some swear words in the speech. In this exchange, is the underlined word being used or mentioned? If mentioned, which type of mention?
A: Guess what I found out today? The Spanish word huevos is slang for ‘BALLS’!
B: Gross. I’m never ordering Huevos Rancheros at a Mexican Restaurant again.
mention qua meaning
(TF) When a taboo word is used for its informational meaning, it is being used connotatively.
False
(TF) The term defective speech act refers to a speech act that negatively contributes to the discourse.
False
(TF) Within a community, there is typically remarkable agreement on which words are taboo as well as on their relative tabooness.
True
The fact that fmopl is not a possible word of English but flomp could be involves the module of grammar known as:
phonology
One rule that can be said of English is the following:
The insertion of an expletive (like fucking) must occur before the stressed syllable.
Example: fan-fucking-tastic *fanta-fucking-stic
This rule itself is an example of what type of grammar?
descriptive grammar
(TF) Descriptive rules of grammar tell speakers which words/structures are best and should be used to be considered correct or proper in the language.
False
Which of the following is NOT true of ‘linguistic competence’?
- It is used primarily as a means of studying a person’s linguistic performance.
- It includes knowledge about the speech sounds of our language.
- It includes the rules that govern what’s possible in our language.
- It includes unconscious knowledge.
It is used primarily as a means of studying a person’s linguistic performance.
Which of the modules of grammar listed below is involved in speakers’ knowledge of the following aspect of their language?: It is possible to say shittily (as in ‘in a shitty way’) but not *shit-ly-y.
morphology
The word donkey was coined so that people could avoid saying the word ass which also has a taboo meaning. This is due to which of the following?
taboo tainting
The tendency for small things to be described with words having high or front vowels (like teeny-weeny) is and example which of the following?
sound symbolism
Identify the type of X-phemism that is illustrated by the underlined word in the triplet:
bathroom ~ pisser ~ [little boy’s/girl’s room]
euphemism
Identify the type of X-phemism that is illustrated by the underlined word in the triplet:
poo-poo ~ [shit] ~ feces
dysphemism
Identify the type of X-phemism that is illustrated by the underlined word in the triplet:
[buttocks] ~ ass ~ rear-end
orthophemism