Mixed Deck — All DLAB Topics Flashcards

A test language uses Subject-Object-Verb order with adjectives always preceding their nouns. 'The tall man sees a small cat' has which structure?

Answer: Adj-Noun Adj-Noun Verb

SOV with pre-noun adjectives yields [tall man] [small cat] [sees], which is Adj-Noun Adj-Noun Verb.

Invented Snarvic: all adjectives are invariable (never change form) regardless of noun gender or number. 'Mako' (F, tree), 'makos' (F plural, trees), 'doru' (M, man). Adjective 'vel' = tall. 'Tall trees' = ?

Answer: Makos vel

Invariable adjectives never change: 'vel' stays 'vel' regardless of number or gender.

The word "munch" means "drink" in Zephyrian. What is ‘do not drink'?

Answer: Munch nill

In Zephyrian, 'munch' means 'drink.' To express 'do not drink,' the term 'Munch nill' is used, which implies that 'nill' or '-nill' functions as the negating component. This element is attached to the verb 'munch' to create the negative command or statement.

The invented language Drelvic uses a negation prefix 'un-' placed before the main verb. Nouns and adjectives are never negated. In the sentence 'Tavi greno spak' (The child quickly runs), how would you say 'The child does not quickly run'?

Answer: Tavi greno unspak

Negation prefix 'un-' attaches to the verb 'spak', not the noun or adverb.

In a fictional language, the following three words have the same stress pattern: 'gi-RO-li', 'fe-NA-ko', 'po-LU-mi'. Which of the following words follows a DIFFERENT stress pattern?

Answer: KLA-ni-po

The established pattern in 'gi-RO-li', 'fe-NA-ko', and 'po-LU-mi' is stress on the second syllable (da-DUM-da). 'a-VEE-da', 'de-MO-shi', and 'bre-NA-tu' all follow this pattern. 'KLA-ni-po' has the stress on the first syllable (DUM-da-da), making it the outlier.

A visual shows: [picture of running person] = 'vel', [picture of sleeping person] = 'mak', [picture of singing person] = 'talo'. A new picture shows a person eating. From the pattern (pictograph = verb), what would the eating verb be called?

Answer: A new word not yet defined — the pattern shows verbs are depicted by action pictures

The eating verb is a new word — you can only infer it would be a verb shown by an action picture.

In the sentence 'She rarely speaks during meetings,' what grammatical role does 'rarely' play?

Answer: Adverb modifying 'speaks'

'Rarely' is an adverb that modifies the verb 'speaks,' describing how often the action occurs.

What does 'phonological awareness' mean in the context of DLAB preparation?

Answer: The ability to identify and manipulate sound units in language

Phonological awareness = conscious ability to recognize and work with sounds (phonemes, syllables, stress) in language.

In an audio segment, you learn the following rules for a new language: 1. The verb always comes last in a sentence. 2. Adjectives follow the noun they modify. 3. The word for 'big' is 'norg' and 'small' is 'kree'. You hear the phrase: 'wex norg vims'. If 'wex' means 'house', what is the most probable translation?

Answer: The house is big.

Following the rules, 'wex' is the noun ('house') and 'norg' is the adjective ('big'). Rule 2 states the adjective follows the noun, giving us 'wex norg' for 'big house'. Rule 1 states the verb is last, so 'vims' must be the verb, likely meaning 'is'. This constructs the sentence 'The house is big'.

Which sentence uses an absolute phrase correctly?

Answer: The storm having passed, we continued our hike.

An absolute phrase has a noun + participle and modifies the whole sentence: 'The storm having passed.'

In the passive construction 'The cipher was decoded by analysts,' what is the grammatical subject?

Answer: the cipher

In a passive sentence, the grammatical subject ('the cipher') receives the action rather than performing it.

A test language assigns a unique symbol to each of its 24 phonemes. A spoken word with 5 distinct phonemes is written with:

Answer: 5 symbols

Since each phoneme maps to exactly one unique symbol, 5 phonemes always require exactly 5 symbols.

In Pheltori, plural nouns are formed by doubling the first syllable. 'Mako' (one tree) becomes 'mamako' (trees). Following this rule, what is the plural of 'telu' (one bird)?

Answer: Tetelu

Double the first syllable 'te-' of 'telu' to get 'tetelu.'

What is a 'minimal pair' in linguistics?

Answer: Two words that differ in only one phoneme and have different meanings

Minimal pairs differ in exactly one phoneme: 'bat' vs 'cat' (b/c), 'ship' vs 'sheep' (short i/long e).

A grammar image shows a branching tree: TOP node = Sentence, branches to NP (Noun Phrase) and VP (Verb Phrase). VP branches to V and NP. This describes which sentence structure?

Answer: Subject + Verb + Object (SVO)

S → NP + VP, VP → V + NP describes SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) structure.

Given: 'ri keba lo pamo' = 'the child plays in the garden,' 'ri keba lo tuno' = 'the child plays in the school,' 'ri piko lo pamo' = 'the child sleeps in the garden.' What does 'lo' mean?

Answer: in

'Lo' appears in all sentences before the location word (pamo=garden, tuno=school). Since 'ri' stays constant, 'keba/piko' alternate with play/sleep (verbs), and 'pamo/tuno' are locations, 'lo' must be the preposition 'in.'

Which type of clause is underlined: 'The report that she submitted was classified'?

Answer: Relative (adjective) clause

'That she submitted' is a relative clause modifying the noun 'report.'

In a language where adjectives must agree in number: 'tal bero' = 'big dog,' 'tal-in bero-in' = 'big dogs.' How would you say 'small cats' if 'small' is 'fey' and 'cat' is 'nura'?

Answer: fey-in nura-in

The plural marker '-in' must appear on both the adjective and noun to maintain agreement. Just as 'tal-in bero-in' marks both words for plural, 'small cats' must be 'fey-in nura-in.' This adjective-noun number agreement is common in Romance languages.

In this language's grammar, possession is shown by adding the suffix '-ep' to the possessor. To make a noun plural, the prefix 'vo-' is added. The possessor always comes before the thing being possessed. If 'bax' means 'box' and 'gorn' means 'rock', which of the following correctly translates to 'the rock's boxes'?

Answer: gorn-ep vo-bax

The possessor is 'the rock' (gorn), so it takes the possessive suffix '-ep', becoming 'gorn-ep'. The possessed item is 'boxes', which is the plural of 'box' (bax). The plural prefix 'vo-' is added, making it 'vo-bax'. The possessor ('gorn-ep') comes before the possessed item ('vo-bax'), resulting in 'gorn-ep vo-bax'.

In a tone language, 'ma' with a high tone means 'mother' and 'ma' with a low tone means 'horse.' What role does pitch play in this language?

Answer: It distinguishes word meaning (lexical tone)

When pitch differences change the meaning of otherwise identical syllables, the language has lexical tone. The same consonant-vowel sequence /ma/ has completely different meanings depending on its pitch pattern. Mandarin Chinese has four tones that function this way.