Exam Based MCQs – Semantics (Meaning in Language)
1. In linguistics, “semantics” is the study of: (UGC NET 2016)
A) Sound system of language
B) Word formation
C) Meaning in language
D) Sentence structure
Ans: C) Meaning in language
2. The basic distinction within semantics is often drawn between: (PGTRB 2018)
A) Phonology and morphology
B) Syntax and pragmatics
C) Lexical semantics and sentential semantics
D) Stylistics and rhetoric
Ans: C) Lexical semantics and sentential semantics
3. The “sense” of an expression relates primarily to: (SET 2019)
A) Its sound pattern
B) Its internal content or meaning relations
C) Its historical origin
D) Its written shape
Ans: B) Its internal content or meaning relations
4. The “reference” of an expression relates to: (UGC NET 2017)
A) A mental dictionary
B) Actual entities or objects in the world
C) Only the speaker’s feelings
D) Historical spelling
Ans: B) Actual entities or objects in the world
5. “Synonymy” is the semantic relation of: (PGTRB 2019)
A) Opposite meaning
B) Same or similar meaning
C) Part–whole relation
D) Cause–effect relation
Ans: B) Same or similar meaning
6. “Antonymy” is the relation between words that are: (SET 2018)
A) Homophones
B) Identical in form
C) Opposite in meaning
D) Borrowed from other languages
Ans: C) Opposite in meaning
7. “Hyponymy” is the relationship where: (UGC NET 2015)
A) One word is a more general term than another
B) One word is a more specific instance of another
C) Two words sound the same
D) Two words share the same etymology
Ans: B) One word is a more specific instance of another
8. In the pair “flower – rose”, “rose” is a: (PGTRB 2020)
A) Hypernym of flower
B) Hyponym of flower
C) Homonym of flower
D) Antonym of flower
Ans: B) Hyponym of flower
9. “Hypernym” is: (SET 2020)
A) A more specific term
B) A more general or superordinate term
C) A term with opposite meaning
D) A term with no referent
Ans: B) A more general or superordinate term
10. “Homonymy” refers to words which: (UGC NET 2018)
A) Have identical spelling and pronunciation but different meanings
B) Have similar meanings
C) Have opposite meanings
D) Are always borrowed words
Ans: A) Have identical spelling and pronunciation but different meanings
11. “Polysemy” is the phenomenon where: (PGTRB 2017)
A) One form has multiple related meanings
B) Two forms share the same meaning
C) Words are phonetically identical
D) Words have no meaning
Ans: A) One form has multiple related meanings
12. The classic example “bank” (river bank / money bank) illustrates: (SET 2017)
A) Polysemy or homonymy
B) Synonymy
C) Hyponymy
D) Meronymy
Ans: A) Polysemy or homonymy
13. “Meronymy” is the semantic relation of: (UGC NET 2019)
A) Whole–part
B) Cause–effect
C) Agent–patient
D) Instrument–result
Ans: A) Whole–part
14. In “wheel – car” relation, “wheel” is a: (PGTRB 2020)
A) Hypernym of car
B) Hyponym of car
C) Meronym (part) of car
D) Homophone of car
Ans: C) Meronym (part) of car
15. Truth-conditional semantics defines meaning in terms of: (SET 2018)
A) Speaker’s intentions only
B) Conditions under which a sentence would be true
C) Historical development of words
D) Phonetic environment of sounds
Ans: B) Conditions under which a sentence would be true
16. The sentence “All bachelors are unmarried” is: (UGC NET 2016)
A) Contradictory
B) Analytic
C) Synthetic
D) Paradoxical
Ans: B) Analytic
17. “The cat is on the mat” is true or false depending on facts of the world, so it is: (PGTRB 2018)
A) Analytic
B) Synthetic
C) Contradiction
D) Tautology
Ans: B) Synthetic
18. A sentence that is false under all conditions is called: (SET 2019)
A) Tautology
B) Contradiction
C) Ambiguous
D) Entailment
Ans: B) Contradiction
19. The relation of entailment can be illustrated by: (UGC NET 2018)
A) “John is a bachelor” entails “John is unmarried”
B) “John is tall” entails “John is short”
C) “John is sleeping” entails “John is awake”
D) “John is here” entails “John is absent”
Ans: A) “John is a bachelor” entails “John is unmarried”
20. If sentence A is true whenever sentence B is true, we say: (PGTRB 2019)
A) A contradicts B
B) A entails B
C) A presupposes B
D) A paraphrases B
Ans: B) A entails B
21. “Presupposition” is a relation where: (SET 2020)
A) Truth of one sentence guarantees the truth of another
B) Both sentences can never be true together
C) The truth of one sentence assumes the truth of another
D) Sentences are identical in meaning
Ans: C) The truth of one sentence assumes the truth of another
22. “John has stopped smoking” presupposes: (UGC NET 2019)
A) John never smoked
B) John used to smoke
C) John will smoke
D) John hates smoking
Ans: B) John used to smoke
23. Componential analysis attempts to break word meaning into: (PGTRB 2017)
A) Morphemes
B) Distinctive semantic features
C) Phonetic segments
D) Syntactic categories
Ans: B) Distinctive semantic features
24. A possible componential analysis of “boy” is: (SET 2018)
A) [+human, +adult, +male]
B) [+human, –adult, +male]
C) [+human, –adult, –male]
D) [–human, –adult, +male]
Ans: B) [+human, –adult, +male]
25. Semantic roles such as “Agent” and “Patient” belong to: (UGC NET 2017)
A) Phonology
B) Syntax only
C) Thematic role (theta-role) theory
D) Orthography
Ans: C) Thematic role (theta-role) theory
26. In “John broke the window with a stone”, “John” is typically the: (PGTRB 2020)
A) Theme
B) Agent
C) Instrument
D) Experiencer
Ans: B) Agent
27. In the same sentence, “the window” is: (SET 2019)
A) Agent
B) Theme / Patient
C) Experiencer
D) Source
Ans: B) Theme / Patient
28. “The stone” in “John broke the window with a stone” is: (UGC NET 2018)
A) Instrument
B) Agent
C) Goal
D) Location
Ans: A) Instrument
29. “Experiencer” is a semantic role typically for: (PGTRB 2019)
A) Entity doing an action
B) Entity undergoing an action
C) Entity feeling or perceiving something
D) Place where event happens
Ans: C) Entity feeling or perceiving something
30. “Lexical ambiguity” occurs when: (SET 2021)
A) A sentence has two possible structures
B) A word has more than one meaning
C) A sound has many allophones
D) Orthography is unclear
Ans: B) A word has more than one meaning
31. “Structural ambiguity” arises from: (UGC NET 2019)
A) A word’s etymology
B) A sentence having more than one possible syntactic structure
C) Mispronunciation
D) Spelling errors
Ans: B) A sentence having more than one possible syntactic structure
32. “Visiting relatives can be annoying” is an example of: (PGTRB 2021)
A) Lexical ambiguity
B) Structural ambiguity
C) Phonetic ambiguity
D) Morphological ambiguity
Ans: B) Structural ambiguity
33. The study of word meaning in context is more closely linked to: (SET 2020)
A) Phonetics
B) Pragmatics
C) Historical linguistics
D) Orthography
Ans: B) Pragmatics
34. Semantics is usually distinguished from pragmatics by focusing on: (UGC NET 2018)
A) Context-independent meaning
B) Only sound patterns
C) Context of utterance alone
D) Orthographic patterns
Ans: A) Context-independent meaning
35. The sentence “Colourless green ideas sleep furiously” is meaningful in terms of: (PGTRB 2018)
A) Syntax but not normal semantics
B) Semantics but not syntax
C) Phonology only
D) Orthography only
Ans: A) Syntax but not normal semantics
36. Semantic “anomaly” refers to: (SET 2019)
A) Grammatically incorrect sentences
B) Sentences that are syntactically well-formed but semantically odd
C) Phonologically ill-formed words
D) Orthographic errors only
Ans: B) Sentences that are syntactically well-formed but semantically odd
37. “Lexical field” or “semantic field” theory groups words according to: (UGC NET 2020)
A) Sound patterns
B) Related areas of meaning
C) Spelling conventions
D) Dialect differences
Ans: B) Related areas of meaning
38. “Semantic change” studies: (PGTRB 2020)
A) Change in phonemes
B) Change in meaning across time
C) Change in handwriting
D) Change in orthography only
Ans: B) Change in meaning across time
39. “Broadening” of meaning occurs when a word’s meaning becomes: (SET 2018)
A) More specific
B) More general
C) Completely opposite
D) Unpronounceable
Ans: B) More general
40. “Narrowing” of meaning occurs when a word’s meaning becomes: (UGC NET 2019)
A) More general
B) More specific
C) Opposite
D) Unrelated
Ans: B) More specific
41. In ELT, understanding semantics is important because: (PGTRB 2021)
A) Learners memorise sounds only
B) Vocabulary teaching depends on word meaning relations
C) Spelling is more important than meaning
D) Semantics is irrelevant for learners
Ans: B) Vocabulary teaching depends on word meaning relations
42. “Contextual meaning” is the meaning: (SET 2020)
A) Found only in dictionaries
B) That a word or sentence takes in a particular situation
C) That never changes
D) That depends only on etymology
Ans: B) That a word or sentence takes in a particular situation
43. “Denotation” is often contrasted with: (UGC NET 2018)
A) Connotation
B) Phonation
C) Alliteration
D) Assimilation
Ans: A) Connotation
44. “Denotation” refers to a word’s: (PGTRB 2019)
A) Primary, dictionary meaning
B) Emotional associations only
C) Phonetic realisation
D) Orthographic rules
Ans: A) Primary, dictionary meaning
45. “Connotation” refers to: (SET 2019)
A) Literal meaning
B) Extra associations and emotional overtones
C) Syntactic relations
D) Phonetic transcription
Ans: B) Extra associations and emotional overtones
46. The sentence meaning determined by grammar and lexical items is called: (UGC NET 2020)
A) Utterance meaning
B) Sentence meaning
C) Speaker meaning
D) Connotative meaning
Ans: B) Sentence meaning
47. The meaning intended by a speaker in a concrete situation is: (PGTRB 2020)
A) Sentence meaning
B) Speaker meaning
C) Dictionary meaning
D) Etymological meaning
Ans: B) Speaker meaning
48. In literature, semantic richness often comes from: (SET 2021)
A) Monosemy
B) Multiple layers of meaning, ambiguity and connotation
C) Only clear denotation
D) Elimination of figurative language
Ans: B) Multiple layers of meaning, ambiguity and connotation
49. The phrase “semantic field of colour” would include: (UGC NET 2019)
A) Red, blue, green, yellow, etc.
B) Eat, drink, sleep, walk
C) Table, chair, window
D) Quickly, slowly, silently
Ans: A) Red, blue, green, yellow, etc.
50. Overall, semantics as a branch of linguistics is concerned with: (PGTRB 2022)
A) The physical production of speech sounds
B) The structure of phrases and sentences only
C) Systematic study of meaning and meaning relations
D) Historical development of writing systems
Ans: C) Systematic study of meaning and meaning relations
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