Meaning in Context (Pragmatics) - Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) - Linguistics Previous Year Questions

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2022 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2022

The phrase “the first person in space” refers to Yuri Gagarin. Which of the following could be used to determine reference?

A

Russell’s Theory of Description

B

Prototype Theory

C

Speech Act Theory

D

Gricean Maxims

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2

2022 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2022

Which of the given logical forms correspond to the following sentence where x ∈ student, y ∈ teacher and A=admires?
Every student admires a teacher.

A

\(\forall x \exists y A(x,y)\)

B

\(\forall y \exists x A(y,x)\)

C

\(\exists x \forall y A(y,x)\)

D

\(\exists y \forall x A(x,y)\)

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3

2023 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2023

When new information is introduced in a communication, such information is classified as ______________.

A

Focus

B

Topic

C

Presupposition

D

Theme

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4

2023 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2023

In the sentences 1 through 4, in which one(s) a) entails b)?
1. a) Rama plays a string instrument.    3. a) Fido is a Dalmatian.
    b) Rama is a violinist.                  b) Fido is a dog.
2. a) Hutolu sings.                       4. a) Students don’t study.
    b) Hutolu is melodious.                b) Linguistics students do not study.

A

1 a) entails 1 b)

B

2 a) entails 2 b)

C

3 a) entails 3 b)

D

4 a) entails 4 b)

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5

2024 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2024

In the following conversation, the violation of which Gricean maxim of conversation gives rise to humour?
Ram: I got a new car for my son.
Shyam: That is a great exchange!

A

Maxim of Relation

B

Maxim of Quality

C

Maxim of Quantity

D

Maxim of Manner

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6

2024 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2024

Which of the sentences in the options given are NOT an entailment of the sentence below?

Simba was a lion in the movie ‘The Lion King’.

A

Simba is a big cat.

B

Simba is a male.

C

Simba is a king.

D

Simba is an African name.

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7

2024 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2024

Consider the predicate calculus expression, \(\forall X P(X) \rightarrow \exists X P(X)\).

Which of the following English sentences with respect to a club called Sunshine is/are equivalent to this predicate calculus expression?

A

If somebody in Sunshine plays cricket, then everybody in Sunshine plays cricket.

B

Even though nobody plays billiards in Sunshine, somebody in Sunshine sometimes plays billiards.

C

If everybody plays hockey in Sunshine, then somebody plays hockey in Sunshine.

D

Nobody plays football in Sunshine, while all play cricket in Sunshine.

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8

2024 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2024

Two sentences are given below:
I.   I was in Boston last winter, and I found it really cold there.
II.   Here, have some tea!

Pick the CORRECT option with respect to the underlined adverbs.

A

In sentence I, the adverb has an endophoric reference, while in sentence II the adverb has an exophoric reference.

B

In both sentences I and II, the adverbs have endophoric references.

C

In sentence I, the adverb has exophoric reference, while in sentence II the adverb has an endophoric reference.

D

In both sentences I and II, the adverbs have exophoric references.

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9

2024 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2024

Choose from the options given, the word(s) that give rise to (or trigger) presuppositions when reading the following lines:

A Jewish physicist, Robert Oppenheimer, directed the development of a new kind of bomb in a project called Trinity. He regretted the building of the bomb because of the cost to mankind. After the war, he was suspected of having communist sympathies and he quickly lost popular support.

A

regretted

B

Oppenheimer

C

after

D

directed

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10

2024 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2024

The following data from Sinhala contains TWO pairs of sentences, 1 and 2. Each member of the pair is marked A and B and they differ in specific ways from each other. Identify the changes that are observed across each pair.

	A:	B:
1.	lamea kataawə ahanəwa child story hear (The) child listens (actively) to the story.	lameaʈə kataawə əhenəwa child story hear (The) child hears the story (despite himself).
2.	malli nitərəmə aŋdənəwa brother always cries Brother always cries.	malliʈə nitərəmə aŋdənəwa brother always cries Brother always bursts into tears (despite himself).

A

The grammatical form of the subject NP changes from A to B.

B

The thematic grid of the verb changes from A to B.

C

The verb exhibits change in phonological shape from A to B.

D

The valency of the verb changes from A to B.

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11

2024 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2024

Consider the underlined NPs in the following three sentences.
i. John broke the window
ii. The window broke
iii. The stone broke the window
Choose the correct values for the grammatical roles (X₁₋₃) and for the semantic roles (Y₁₋₃) of these NPs from the options given below.

Sentence No.	Syntactic Roles	Semantic Roles
i.	X₁	Y₁
ii.	X₂	Y₂
iii.	X₃	Y₃

A

X₁: subject, Y₁: agent

B

X₂: subject, Y₂: object

C

X₃: subject, Y₃: instrument

D

X₂: object, Y₂: agent

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12

2024 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2024

Consider the following sentence:
King Puru of the Pauravas, the lion, fought Alexander the emperor in the battlefield of Jhelum (Hydaspes).
Identify all the CORRECT lexico-semantic relations that appear in the given sentence from the options provided.

A

Metonymy: King Puru - Lion

B

Hypernymy: Emperor - Alexander

C

Meronymy: Battlefield - Jhelum

D

Holonymy: Lion - King Puru

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13

2025 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2025

Consider the following data. The intended and actual utterances (P – S) are given in columns X and Y, respectively. Choose one option that correctly matches the sentences (P – S) with the error types (i – iv) in column Z.

A

P – ii, Q – i, R – iv, S – iii

B

P – iii, Q – i, R – ii, S – iv

C

P – iii, Q – iv, R – ii, S – i

D

P – ii, Q – iv, R – iii, S – i

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14

2025 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences-Linguistics (XH-C3) 2025

Based on the statements in (1) – (4), which option/s is/are correct?
(1) Thor has a female sibling
(2) Thor has a sister
(3) Thor has visited New Delhi
(4) Thor has visited India

A

(1) entails (2); (3) entails (4)

B

(2) entails (1); (4) does not entail (3)

C

(1) does not entail (2); (3) does not entail (4)

D

(2) does not entail (1); (4) entails (3)

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15

2026 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences - Linguistics (XH-C3) 2026

Which ONE of the following statements about theta roles is CORRECT?

A

Heads assign theta roles to complements in a sentence.

B

A subject in a sentence always bears the agent theta role.

C

An object in a sentence can only bear theme theta role.

D

An indirect object in a sentence does not need a theta role.

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16

2026 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences - Linguistics (XH-C3) 2026

Which of these is/are NOT (an) example(s) of a direct speech act?

A

Could you open that salt bottle for me?

B

Pass the salt!

C

Do you know where the salt is?

D

The salt is in the bottle.

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17

2026 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences - Linguistics (XH-C3) 2026

Among the options given below, identify the sentence(s) with deictic expression(s).

A

It is raining here now!

B

These boxes must be removed by tomorrow.

C

The boxes of clothes were donated to the orphanage.

D

It rains in Kerala from June to September every year.

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18

2026 · Linguistics · Levels of Grammatical Analysis (The primary components of grammar) · Meaning in Context (Pragmatics)

Humanities & Social Sciences - Linguistics (XH-C3) 2026

Which of the following is/are (an) example(s) that exhibit(s) ‘Metaphorical Extension’ (a mechanism by which the meaning of existing words can change)?

A

Just stop feeding me those ideas!

B

Don’t hold your criticism, spit it out!

C

What a cool outfit!

D

Backup the data on the cloud!

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