Recently updated with more questions and answers to the questions!
I originally wanted to know name this test the "How well do you understand the language you speak?" test, but that wouldn't fit. So pretend that's what it says above.
Everyone learns their first language with few problems and speaks it fluently, but very few people actually understand the language they speak and its properties.
For example, in English, why can we say:
I painted the barn red but not:
He saw the barn red?
Why is "dogs" pronounced dogz but "cats" pronounced cats?
Why can we say "Time elapsed" but not "Mary elapsed" or "I elapsed time"?
Most English speakers have no idea as to the answers to these paradigms. As a linguist in training, I do and I want to see how many of you can figure it out based on intuition and reasoning. So this test will measure your abilities to draw generalizations about your langauge, English, and notice its particular rules. If you know anything about linguistics, this test will measure your intuitions about English phonetics, phonology, and semantics. Anyone can take this test, but it's designed for native English speakers. My basis is American English, but almost all aspects also apply to British English.
The material in this test is all original, but I have to credit the exceptional department of linguistics at the University of Kansas as the source for 90% of my knowledge. This test is mostly for you, the okcupid hottie, but from a scholarly standpoint, I think its results will also be interesting. However, I promise not to use your personal results as a basis for any research/work.
