PASS MOCK EXAM
– FOR PRACTICE ONLY –
Course:
LING 1001B
Facilitator: Pat McGavin
Dates and locations of mock exam take-up: Monday Nov 30th 6-9pm TB 342
It is most beneficial to you to write this mock midterm UNDER EXAM CONDITIONS. This
means:
• Complete the midterm in ___ hour(s).
• Work on your own.
• Keep your notes and textbook closed.
• Attempt every question.
After the time limit, go back over your work with a different colour or on a separate piece of
paper and try to do the questions you are unsure of. Record your ideas in the margins to remind
yourself of what you were thinking when you take it up at PASS.
The purpose of this mock exam is to give you practice answering questions in a timed setting
and to help you to gauge which aspects of the course content you know well and which are in
need of further development and review. Use this mock exam as a learning tool in preparing
for the actual exam.
Please note:

Come to the PASS session with your mock exam complete. There, you can work with
other students to review your work.

Often, there is not enough time to review the entire exam in the PASS session. Decide
which questions you most want to review – the Facilitator may ask students to vote on
which questions they want to discuss.

Facilitators do not bring copies of the mock exam to the session. Please print out and
complete the exam before you attend.

Facilitators do not produce or distribute an answer key for mock exams.
Facilitators help students to work together to compare and assess the answers they
have. If you are not able to attend the PASS session, you can work alone or with others
in the class.
Good Luck writing the Mock Exam!!
DISCLAIMER: PASS handouts are designed as a study aid only for use in PASS
workshops. Handouts may contain errors, intentional or otherwise. It is up to the
student to verify the information contained within.
Phonetics
1. Consider the list of words below.
-Underline the words that contain an interdental/alveolar/post alveolar sound.
-Draw an arrow pointing towards the words that contain a voiceless sound.
-Draw a star next to the words that contain a velar sound.
-Draw a circle next to the words that contain a low vowel.
-Draw a square next to the words that contain a lax vowel.
-Put a check mark next to the words that contain a diphthong.
Spain
treasure
shrine
gravy
truth
timing
icelandic
2. Point out the mistakes in the following transcriptions (vowels and consonants)
a) cupping
/kupɪŋg/
b) feather
/feθəɹ/
c) night
/ŋæjt/
d) yellow
/yɛlo/
e) chord
/chowɹd/
3. Provide an English word that meets the following criteria.
a) contains a high and low vowel
b) contains only voiceless consonants
c) contains only alveolar consonants
d) contains a front vowel and a palatal consonant
e) contains a lax vowel and a tense vowel
f) contains a voiced fricative and a rounded vowel
4. Circle the oddball, and state what natural class the rest form. (There may be more than
one answer)
[ɸ f s ʃ ʂ ç x χ ħ ɦ]
[i ɪ
a u]
[ɛ ʌ i u a c ə ɪ ʏ ʊ]
[ʧ
ð
ʒ ʤ]
[ə ɛ
a
[ʂ
ɸ
f
ʌ]
Ɂ]
[t d n ɹ θ l z ɾ]
5. Sammies. Fill out sammies for the following: /m/ /s/ /ŋ/ /j/ /v/ /θ/
6. What are the 5 parameters of articulation in signed languages?
Phonology
For each dataset, complete the following tasks regarding the sounds in question:
a) List any minimal pairs/ near minimal pairs
b) State the type of distribution
c) State whether the distribution of the sounds is predictable or unpredictable
d) Determine if they are allophones of the same phoneme or not.
e) State whether or not the sounds are in free variation.
f) If they are allophones, find the underlying form/ write a rule explaining the change, and
give the rule a name.
*all languages are made up and do not follow English rules regarding stress/syllable boundaries.
1. /t/ and /d/
*pay attention to stress and syllable boundaries
‘da.gat
‘hammer’
‘fuld.it
‘driver’
‘gred.peg
‘wrench’
grejt.’lim
‘workbench’
Put.’kod
‘drill’
dit.’bid
‘metal’
Environments:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
2. /p/ and /b/ *pay attention to the meanings of the words.
Tapat ‘apple’
obeto ‘mango’
tabat ‘apple’
Ubut ‘orange’
apono ‘avocado’
uput ‘orange’
Opato ‘grape’
oyibo ‘melon’
obato ‘grape’
Ebama ‘berry’
otupi ‘peach’
epama ‘berry’
Environments:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
3. /m/ and /n/
‘tang.oma ‘cup’
ume.’nagi
Ega.’bona ‘fork’
‘ora.omo
‘Na.pont
‘spoon’ tumu.’nade
Environments:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
‘dish’
‘knife’
‘plate’
opeto ‘mango’
abono ‘avocado’
oyipo ‘melon’
otubi ‘peach’
4. /p/ and /b/ *pay attention to the meanings of the words.
Tapat ‘happy’
obeto ‘regretful’
tabat ‘depressed’
Ubut ‘sad’
apono ‘upset’
uput ‘joyful’
Opato ‘angry’
oyibo ‘content’
obato ‘elated’
Ebama ‘frustrated’ otupi ‘pleased’
epama ‘relieved’
Environments:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
opeto ‘cautious’
abono ‘careful’
oyipo ‘afraid’
otubi ‘worried’
5. Derivations
Fill out the following derivation charts showing the order in which the rules apply to the
word in underlying form to reach its surface form.
On the left show how the order in which the rules apply correctly. On the right show how
the order does not work. *the following examples are from made up languages*
a) The rule for vowel fronting is: u -> i / _ voiceless consonant
The rule for consonant voicing is: t-> d / V_V *V= vowel
Word in underlying form: /ruter/
UL:
UL:
Rules:
Rules:
SF:
SF:
Are the rules crucially ordered?
b) The rule for vowel lengthening is V -> V: / _ voiced consonant
The rule for vowel nasalization is /u/ - > /ũ/ / _ nasal consonant
Word in underlying form: /run/
UL:
UL:
Rules:
Rules:
SF:
SF:
Are the rules crucially ordered?
6. Syllable trees
Draw syllable trees for the following words:
a) Landscape b) equestrian
c) mathematics
d) Utensil
e) clockwork
f) firefighter
*you’ll have to transcribe them in order to draw the trees.
7. Phonological Rules: for the following situations, state what type of rule (out of the 7
rules discussed in class/textbook) Note: something like assimilation is fine for ‘type’, but
is too general for ‘name’
Type
Name
Ø - > [t] / nasal Consonant _Vowel
/f/ - > [v] / V_V
/n/ -> [ŋ] / _ velar consonant
[m] / _ bilabial consonant
Morphology
1. For each of the underlined words below, say what lexical category the word is and
whether it’s open or closed.
Open/closed
lexical category
a) Every mark counts
b) Look above you
c) Text me sometime
d) all I want is peace
e) I literally can’t handle this
f) That bro is so basic
g) I like this but I like that
h) They are amazing
2. For each of the compound words below, say whether the word is endocentric or
exocentric and briefly explain how you know.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
Clockwork
Butterball
Darkroom
Skinhead
Breakfast
Doorknob
Smalltalk
Scatterbrain
3. For each of the words below, say what word formation process formed the words.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Deconstructed
fan (as in ‘he’s a sports fan’)
self-destruct
brunch
butter (as in ‘butter the bread’)
Sang
Went
4. For the following words, complete the following tasks.
- Split the word into its morphemes
- Label each affix as inflectional or derivational
- Draw the morphological tree
a. Remodelling
d. experimentalists
b. Unfriended
e. undoable
c. Specializes
f. undoable
*there are two interpretations of ‘undoable.’ Along with drawing the trees for both, briefly
explain their different meanings.
5. For the following dataset, find the morphemes asked for below.
Yuot ‘I drink’
Laulat ‘I sing’
Danot ‘I dance’
Toyuot ‘I drank’
Tolaulat ‘I sang’
Todanot ‘I danced’
Jayuot ‘I am drinking
Jalaulat ‘I am singing
Jadanot ‘I am dancing’
Yuon ‘you drink’
Toyuon ‘you drank’
Jayuon ‘you are drinking’
Laulan ‘you sing’
Tolaulan ‘you sang’
Jalaulan ‘you are singing’
Danon ‘you dance’
Todanon ‘you danced’
Jadanon ‘you are dancing’
Yuome ‘we drink’
Toyuome ‘we drank’
Jayuome ‘we are drinking’
Laulame ‘we sing’
Tolaulame ‘we sang’
Jalaulame ‘we are singing’
Danome ‘we dance’
Todanome ‘we danced’
Jadanome’ we are dancing’
Morphemes:
1st person singular (I):
2nd person singular (you):
1st person nom plural (we):
Simple Past:
Present Progressive:
*Bonus* Simple Present:
6. Consider the following dataset.
ventiko ‘hospital’
latnake ‘doctor’
ruvedna ‘patient’
patik
‘nurse’
kutlok
‘paramedic’
farat
‘ambulance’
a) What type of affix is the plural affix?
kaventiko
kalatnake
karuvendna
gapatik
gakulok
gafarat
‘hospitals’
‘doctors’
‘patients’
‘nurses’
‘paramedics’
‘ambulances’
b) Does the plural morpheme have more than one allomorph? What are they?
c) What conditions the alternation?
Syntax
1. What is the difference between syntax and semantics?
2. Define: Adjunct
3. What is the difference between complements and arguments?
4.
a.
b.
c.
Provide an example of a verb that is each of the following and use it in a sentence:
Intransitive:
Transitive:
Di-transitive:
5. For the following sentences:
- identify if the underlined phrase is an argument or adjunct
- if it’s an argument, say what requires it
a. He complained about the noise
b. I’m looking across the river
c. The guys want to play ball
d. I don’t like bugs because they are creepy
6. Constituency tests: apply all 4 constituency test for the following words in brackets, and
determine whether or not it’s a constituent.
a. We got our beer [at the beer store]
b. The food [was extremely] delicious
c. [The salsa dancers] are on fire tonight!
d. Alice went [on trial for] painting the roses red.
7. Trees. Draw syntax trees for the following:
a) Alice fell down the rabbit hole.
b) The new employees wore their best suits.
c) Some people buy their candy from bulk barn. *does this tree have 2 interpretations?
The following sentence has two meanings. Draw trees for both and briefly explain their
meaning.
d) He shot his friend with the laser gun
Semantics/Pragmatics
1. Designate the following words’ relationships as either polysemic or homonymic.
Relationship
a) bank (riverbank/financial institution)
b) bright (to shine/be intelligent)
c) club (the place you dance/ a blunt weapon)
d) star (a famous person/ a star in space)
e) pen (as in pig pen/ the thing you write with)
f) lost (being physically lost/ not understanding something)
2. Determine what type of antonym the following words are. (complementary, gradable,
converses, reverses)
love/hate:
master/slave:
ascent/descent:
win/lose:
employer/employee:
come/go:
existent/ nonexistent:
absent/present:
easy/hard:
happy/sad:
expand/contract:
friend/enemy:
3. Yes/No: Do the following have both a sense and referent?
Sense
a) Human colony on Mars
b) Sharks
c) Justin Bieber
d) Feet
e) Mermaids
f) Giants
Referent
4. Identify the following sentences’ relationships as being either paraphrase, contradiction
or entailment.
a) i. When the clock strikes 12 it will be midnight.
ii. It will be midnight when the clock strikes 12.
Relation:
b) i. It is dark at night.
ii. All nights are dark.
Relation:
c) i. Elmo is a free man.
ii. Elmo is in jail.
Relation:
d) i. My phone is not waterproof
ii. My phone will be ruined if you put it in the water
Relation:
e) i. Elmo is an honest man.
ii. Elmo is a compulsive liar.
Relation:
f) i. Winter is the coldest time of year
ii. The coldest time of year is winter
Relation:
5. The following sentences contain presuppositions. State what the presupposition is, and
identify the word that is responsible for it.
a) It’s my birthday again today!
b) Why did the chicken cross the road?
c) When did you go to the store?
d) Please start turning the lights off.
e) You should stop drinking so much.
f) Wizards are never late.
6. Write out short 2 line examples of dialogue that show each of Grice’s maxims being
violated.
a) Maxim of Quality:
b) Maxim of Relevance:
c) Maxim of Quantity:
d) Maxim of Manner: