Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each question by the level of analysis it belongs to.
Groups: Phonology · Morphology · Syntax · Pragmatics
- Why no initial ng?
- Meaningful sound contrasts
- Plural suffix base
- How unhappiness forms
- Salt query as a request
- Why object after verb
Hints
- Two questions are about the shapes of words and two about the shapes of sentences.
- A question about what an utterance achieves rather than what it says is pragmatics.
Show the answer
Phonology: Why no initial ng?, Meaningful sound contrasts
Morphology: How unhappiness forms, Plural suffix base
Syntax: Why object after verb
Pragmatics: Salt query as a request
Why
The levels are distinguished by their units: contrasts of sound, parts of words, arrangements of words, and the gap between what is said and what is done. The salt question is the clearest case of that gap, the sentence is literally a question about ability and is never answered as one.
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