UCLA LING 1 MIDTERM EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - 100%
VERIFIED - LATEST 2026 - GUARANTEED PASS
What is linguistics? The study of communication systems, human and non-
human.
Why is the phenomenon of "Expletive Infixation" in English important? It
suggests that native speakers of a language know grammar rules that they have
never been taught.
What does the scenario where your friend says "Feris, Prance" instead of "Paris,
France" demonstrate? Performance: Your friend knows English grammar, and
recognizes that she has made an error.
What does the Wug Test provide evidence for? Even very young children know
the phonological rules of their language.
What does the fact that children produce sentences like "Daddy goed to work"
serve as evidence against? Both the claims that children learn language based on
what they hear from their parents AND that children do not acquire rules of
grammar.
What does the fact that all languages have sentences with subjects and objects,
words, questions, and negation support? The existence of Universal Grammar.
How do we know that the relation between the sound of a word and its meaning
is arbitrary? Different languages have different words that refer to the same
objects/concepts.
Is the discussion of getting rid of "uptalk" an example of language descriptivism
or prescriptivism? Prescriptivism: The narrator suggests how language should
be spoken as opposed to how speakers actually speak it.
Is the statement "uptalk is simply the sound of your voice going up at the end of
a sentence" descriptive or prescriptive? Descriptive - he is explaining what the
phenomenon is, as it is used by speakers.
VERIFIED - LATEST 2026 - GUARANTEED PASS
What is linguistics? The study of communication systems, human and non-
human.
Why is the phenomenon of "Expletive Infixation" in English important? It
suggests that native speakers of a language know grammar rules that they have
never been taught.
What does the scenario where your friend says "Feris, Prance" instead of "Paris,
France" demonstrate? Performance: Your friend knows English grammar, and
recognizes that she has made an error.
What does the Wug Test provide evidence for? Even very young children know
the phonological rules of their language.
What does the fact that children produce sentences like "Daddy goed to work"
serve as evidence against? Both the claims that children learn language based on
what they hear from their parents AND that children do not acquire rules of
grammar.
What does the fact that all languages have sentences with subjects and objects,
words, questions, and negation support? The existence of Universal Grammar.
How do we know that the relation between the sound of a word and its meaning
is arbitrary? Different languages have different words that refer to the same
objects/concepts.
Is the discussion of getting rid of "uptalk" an example of language descriptivism
or prescriptivism? Prescriptivism: The narrator suggests how language should
be spoken as opposed to how speakers actually speak it.
Is the statement "uptalk is simply the sound of your voice going up at the end of
a sentence" descriptive or prescriptive? Descriptive - he is explaining what the
phenomenon is, as it is used by speakers.
