Choose the correct option to complete the following sentence:
For her linguistics project, Shreya used ______ to show which sounds can change the meaning of a word in Bengali and how those sounds are arranged in the language’s sound system.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Phonology
Complete sentence: For her linguistics project, Shreya used phonology to show which sounds can change the meaning of a word in Bengali and how those sounds are arranged in the language’s sound system.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Phonetics | the study of speech sounds in general: how the mouth and throat make them and how the ear hears them | In the phonetics lab, Karan watched on a screen how his tongue moved as he spoke. |
| (2) Morphology | the study of how words are formed from smaller parts, such as “un”, “kind” and “ness” | Our morphology worksheet asked us to break “unhappiness” into its three parts. |
| (3) Etymology | the study of where words come from and how their meanings have changed over time | Dadaji loves etymology and can tell you how the word “shampoo” came into English from Hindi. |
| (4) Phonology (answer) | the study of the sound system of a language: which sounds it uses, how they are arranged and which of them change the meaning of a word | In the phonology lecture, we learnt why many Hindi speakers add a short “i” sound before English words like “school”. |