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Multiple Choice
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1

All of the following is true about human language, except that it:
A)permits the discussion of past and future.
B)is based on an arbitrary association between words and the things for which they stand.
C)is produced only when particular environmental stimuli are encountered.
D)relies almost totally on learning.
E)allows one to benefit from others' experiences.
2

What term refers to "the arrangement and order of words and phrases and sentences"?
A)morpheme
B)lexicon
C)syntax
D)phoneme
E)none of the above
3

The presence in a language of "high" and "low" variants is called:
A)focal vocabulary
B)diglossia
C)lexicon
D)universal grammar
E)none of the above
4

All of the following signs have meanings that are particular to certain cultures, except:
A)nodding head
B)pointing finger
C)smile
D)saying "uh huh"
E)shaking head
5

The fact that salesmen in higher-class stores in New York were more likely to pronounce their r's than salesmen in lower-class stores in William Labov's study shows that:
A)employers practiced sociolinguistic discrimination.
B)salesmen were engaged in a style shift.
C)shoppers were culturally conditioned to expect the use of diglossia.
D)the class origins of store personnel often did not reflect their customers.
E)All of the above.
6

Which term refers to "the study of the significant sound contrasts of a given language"?
A)phonology
B)morphology
C)phonetics
D)phonemics
E)none of the above
7

What term refers to "a sound contrast that makes a difference to meaning"?
A)morpheme
B)lexicon
C)syntax
D)phoneme
E)none of the above
8

The English word "cat" contains two _________, "cat" and "-t".
A)morphemes
B)lexicons
C)syntaxes
D)phonemes
E)none of the above
9

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that:
A)the grammatical categories of different languages lead their speakers to think about things in particular ways.
B)there are ten basic color terms which evolve in a set order.
C)the chimpanzees that are capable of ASL are more like trained circus animals and do not really show the capacity of language.
D)human brains contain a limited set of rule for organizing language so that all languages have a common structural basis.
E)gorillas have the capacity of speech, as demonstrated by the gorilla Koko.
10

All of the following are characteristics of Black English Vernacular BEV, except:
A)omission of intervocalic r's
B)omission of -s as marker of plurality
C)copula deletion
D)omission of -ed as pest-tense marker
E)All of the above are present in BEV
11

What term refers to "the arrangement and order of words and phrases and sentences"?
A)morpheme
B)lexicon
C)syntax
D)phoneme
E)none of the above
12

According to the principle of linguistic relativity:
A)human brains contain a limited set of rule for organizing language so that all languages have a common structural basis.
B)all languages are daughter languages of Proto-Indo-European.
C)all dialects are equally effective as systems of communication.
D)the proper language is a strategic resource to its user.
E)all languages are equally valid for study by linguistic anthropologists.
13

According to the textbook, all of the following are true about Black English Vernacular, except that it is:
A)systematic and rule-governed
B)less capable of communication than Standard English
C)a relatively uniform dialect spoken by the majority of black youth in most parts of the United States
D)able to differentiate between past and present verbs
E)related to the dialect of English commonly used in the southern United States
14

What is the term for languages that have descended from the same language?
A)historical linguistics
B)daughter languages
C)protolanguages
D)linguistic subgroups
E)proto-Indo-European
15

The original language from which a language evolves is called a:
A)historical linguistics
B)daughter language
C)protolanguage
D)linguistic subgroup
E)proto-Indo-European





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