FREE CALT Morphology and Etymology Questions and Answers

Question 1

Which of the following words contains the Latin root 'spect', meaning 'to see' or 'to look'?

Accepted Answer

Inspect

Answer

The Latin root 'spect' means 'to see' or 'to look'. The word 'inspect' means to look into something carefully. The other words derive from different roots: 'portable' from 'port' (to carry), 'disrupt' from 'rupt' (to break), and 'admit' from 'mit' (to send).

Question 2

In the word 'unbelievably', which of the following is the base word or free morpheme?

Accepted Answer

believe

Answer

A free morpheme is a meaningful unit that can stand alone as a word. In 'unbelievably', 'believe' is the base word. 'Un-', '-able', and '-ly' are all bound morphemes (affixes) that must be attached to a base.

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of a derivational suffix?

Accepted Answer

The '-ness' in 'happiness'

Answer

A derivational suffix changes the part of speech or the core meaning of a word. The suffix '-ness' changes the adjective 'happy' into the noun 'happiness'. Inflectional suffixes, like '-s' (plural), '-ed' (past tense), and '-ing' (present participle), modify a word's tense or number but do not change its fundamental meaning or class.

Question 4

The etymology of the word 'telephone' comes from the Greek combining forms 'tele' and 'phone'. What do these forms mean?

Accepted Answer

Far off and sound

Answer

Understanding etymology helps decode word meanings. In Greek, 'tele' means 'far off' or 'at a distance,' and 'phone' means 'sound' or 'voice.' Therefore, a telephone is a device for transmitting sound over a distance.

Question 5

Which of the following is a bound morpheme?

Accepted Answer

re-

Answer

A bound morpheme is a unit of meaning that cannot stand alone as a word and must be attached to another morpheme. The prefix 're-' is a bound morpheme, as seen in words like 'replay' or 'redo'. 'Cat', 'run', and 'the' are all free morphemes because they can be words by themselves.

CALT - Certified Academic Language Therapist Practice Test

CALT - Certified Academic Language Therapist Practice Test

FREE CALT Morphology and Etymology Questions and Answers