GRE Subject Test: Psychology : Phonemes, Morphemes, & Phrases

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Psychology

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store

All GRE Subject Test: Psychology Resources

105 Practice Tests Question of the Day Flashcards Learn by Concept

Example Questions

← Previous 1

Example Question #1 :Phonemes, Morphemes, & Phrases

How many morphemes are in the word "beaches"?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Morpheme refers to the smallest unit of language that carries meaning. In the word "beaches" there are two: "beach," and "es" which designates that the word is plural. By contrast, phonemes refer to the smallest units of sound.

Example Question #1 :Language

Which of the following is best defined as the smallest unit of language that carries meaning?

Possible Answers:

Grammar

Morpheme

Word

Phoneme

Concept

Correct answer:

Morpheme

Explanation:

“音素”是语言的最小单位create sound; however, "morphemes" are the smallest units that carry a meaning.

Example Question #2 :Phonemes, Morphemes, & Phrases

A gorilla which has learned a limited form of sign language gains the attention of its trainer and signs the incomplete sentence "treat, bring now."

This is most closely an example of which of the following?

Possible Answers:

Telegraphic speech

Overgeneralization

Syntax error

Babbling

Language drift

Correct answer:

Telegraphic speech

Explanation:

Telegraphic speech is speech during the two-word stage of language acquisition, consisting of commands or imperatives given in three-or-more word sentences consisting of functional words only. A sentence like "treat, bring now" contains enough to make the message effective, if not particularly precise.

Example Question #111 :Experimental

Which of the following words contains an example of a cranberry morpheme?

Possible Answers:

Killed

Progeny

Deadly

Sublimation

Damaging

Correct answer:

Progeny

Explanation:

A cranberry morpheme is a type of morpheme (the smallest meaningful unit of language) which has no independent meaning or function, but which still serves to distinguish one word from another. In this case,progenycontains the the cranberry morpheme '-geny', an obsolete term designating offspring which is also found inexogenyandendogeny.

Example Question #3 :Phonemes, Morphemes, & Phrases

Which of the following words contains an example of a cranberry morpheme?

Possible Answers:

Barometer

Hinterland

Thermometer

Destroyer

Unapologetic

Correct answer:

Hinterland

Explanation:

A cranberry morpheme is a type of morpheme (the smallest meaningful unit of language) which has no independent meaning or function, but which still serves to distinguish one word from another. In this case, the termhinterlandcontains the German wordhinter("behind"), paired with the free morpheme '-land'.

Example Question #4 :Phonemes, Morphemes, & Phrases

The addition of a string of phonologically absent symbols onto a word creates which of the following?

Possible Answers:

None of these

Contraindicated morpheme

Cranberry morpheme

Allomorph

Null morpheme

Correct answer:

Null morpheme

Explanation:

Null morphemes are theorized to be those morpheme strings which, while possessing no identifying characteristics, nonetheless allow us to differentiate between different forms of a word. Morphologists propose various theories for how these null morphemes may exist and whether or not we learn them naturally as part of the process of language acquisition.

Example Question #1 :Phonemes, Morphemes, & Phrases

Which of the following pairs of words best illustrates the definition of an allomorph?

Possible Answers:

Helped. . . Trapped

Greatness. . . Grateful

Bubbles. . . Cats

Kindly. . . Unkind

All of these

Correct answer:

Bubbles. . . Cats

Explanation:

An allomorph occurs when a morpheme varies in pronunciation but not in meaning. For example, the pluralizing morpheme "s/es" in English sounds like "z" inbubbles, but like "s" incats.Recognition of these allomorphs is often much more difficult for non-native speakers of a language.

Example Question #1 :Phonemes, Morphemes, & Phrases

Which of the following pairs of words best illustrates the definition of an allomorph?

Possible Answers:

None of these

Wasted. . . Wished

Blasts. . . Hikes

Flavoring. . . Seasoning

Depth. . . Width

Correct answer:

Wasted. . . Wished

Explanation:

An allomorph occurs when a morpheme varies in pronunciation but not in meaning. For example, the pluralizing morpheme "ed" sounds like a "schwa" inwastedbut like "t" inwished.

Example Question #1 :Phonemes, Morphemes, & Phrases

Which of the following is notan example of a derivative morpheme?

Possible Answers:

Make. . . Maker

Sell. . . Seller

Wise. . . Wiser

Smile. . . Smiler

None of these

Correct answer:

Wise. . . Wiser

Explanation:

Derivational morphemes change either the semantic meaning or the part of speech to which the base word belongs. For example, in the wordatypicalthe derivational morphemea-reverses the meaning of the wordtypicalto mean "not typical". The usage of the morpheme -erto change "wise" to "wiser", on the other hand, isinflectionalonly, as it only changes the comparative state of the associated adjectivewise.

Example Question #2 :Phonemes, Morphemes, & Phrases

Which of the following is notan example of a inflectional morpheme?

Possible Answers:

Drag. . . Dragged

Word. . . Words

None of these

Kind. . . Kindest

Cruel. . . Cruelty

Correct answer:

Cruel. . . Cruelty

Explanation:

Inflectional morphemes are morphemes which modify either a noun/pronoun/adjective's number, gender, or case, or a verb's tense, mood, number, person or aspect, but do not chance the word's overall meaning or the part of speech to which the word belongs. The morpheme -tyat the end of the wordcruelchanges the word from an adjective to a noun, and is thus an example of aderivationalmorpheme.

← Previous 1

All GRE Subject Test: Psychology Resources

105 Practice Tests Question of the Day Flashcards Learn by Concept
Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors