Deck 5: Language and Communication

Question 1

Which of the following statements about the history of linguistics is incorrect?

A)The discovery of system,regularity,and relationships in linguistic data occurred in the 17th century.
B)The modern scientific study of language began in the 17th century with the accumulation of facts about the languages spoken by people encountered during the Age of Exploration.
C)In the 19th century,laws and principles of language were formulated.
D)Many theories of language have been developed in the 20th century.
E)Linguistics is the modern scientific study of all aspects of language.

Answer 1

The discovery of system,regularity,and relationships in linguistic data occurred in the 17th century.

Question 2

The study of the patterns or rules which govern speech word formation is called ________________ .

A)substitution frames
B)glottochronology
C)phonetics
D)phonology
E)morphology

Answer 2

substitution frames

Question 3

Consider the English word "dog." Which of the following is a morpheme?

A)"d"
B)"dog"
C)"o"
D)"g"
E)All of the above

Answer 3

"dog"

Question 4

Chantek was a(n)_______________.

A)bonobo
B)gibbon
C)chimpanzee
D)gorilla
E)orangutan

Question 5

The systemic study of the production,transmission,and reception of speech sounds is _______________.

A)linguistics
B)morphology
C)substitution frames.
D)phonetics
E)syntax

Question 6

All _______________,as systems of communication using sounds or gestures that are put together in meaningful ways according to a set of rules,are organized on the same basic plan.

A)languages
B)symbols
C)signals
D)phonetics
E)core vocabulary

Question 7

Chantek eventually learned to produce _______________ signs.

A)50
B)250
C)500
D)100
E)several hundred

Question 8

What are the long-term goals of the Chantek Foundation?

A)to free all primates from zoos and labs
B)for Chantek and other enculturated apes to live in culture based preserves instead of zoos or research centers.
C)to teach all primates how to use American Sign Language
D)to begin teaching primates how to write
E)to finish this work and allow Chantek to return to the wild

Question 9

While the phonologist is making an inventory of permissible sounds in a language,the _______________ is deciphering the groups or combinations of sounds that have meaning,or that are actually used to convey information.

A)phoneticist
B)linguist
C)morphologist
D)grammaticist
E)glottochronologist

Question 10

The entire formal structure of a language consisting of all observations about its meaningful units of sounds and the rules or principles of making phrases and sentences is called its _______________.

A)syntax
B)form classes
C)morphology
D)phonology
E)grammar

Question 11

All languages are organized on the same basic plan in that _______________.

A)they are all based on signals
B)they take no more than 50 sounds and put them together in meaningful ways according to rules that can be determined by linguists
C)they take no more than 3,000 sounds and organize them according to the rules of grammar
D)they all evolved from a common Egyptian language
E)they originated in Russia

Question 12

The modern scientific study of all aspects of language is _______________.

A)kinetics
B)phonology
C)linguistics
D)grammar
E)glottochronology

Question 13

The smallest class of sound that makes a difference in meaning is a(n)_______________.

A)allophone
B)morpheme
C)allomorph
D)phoneme
E)free morpheme

Question 14

Displacement refers to the concept of being able to refer to things that are ____________________?

A)Both signals and symbols as forms of communication
B)Elements of written language being used incorrectly
C)Signals that are in response to aspects of the immediate environment
D)Symbols that are arbitrary and can be used independently.
E)removed from time and space

Question 15

Which of the following is not a signal?

A)coughs
B)winking
C)screams
D)crying
E)sneezing

Question 16

A system of communication based on symbols is called a _______________.

A)signal
B)form class
C)language
D)substitution frames
E)vocalization

Question 17

The American anthropologist Edward Sapir had formulated the problem and his student,Benjamin Whorf,drawing on his experience with the language of the Hopi Indians,developed a full-fledged theory now known as the theory of _______________.

A)cultural relativity
B)linguistic relativity
C)code switching
D)linguistic nationalism
E)phenomenology

Question 18

Which of the following are of greatest importance in human speech?

A)mouth palate and trachea
B)epiglottis and mouth palate
C)trachea and larynx
D)epiglottis and trachea
E)larynx and epiglottis

Question 19

The study of abstract rules that guide the sound patterns of a language is called _______________.

A)phonetics
B)phonology
C)syntax
D)morphology
E)substitution frames

Question 20

Often,_______________ complements spoken messages.

A)language
B)tonal language
C)gesture
D)command
E)dialect

Question 21

In France,a committee exists which has the job of eliminating subversive foreign influences in the form of words borrowed from other languages.English is a major offender (as in le bluejeans or le hamburger).This is an example of _______________.

A)French close mindedness
B)linguistic parochialism
C)linguistic nationalism
D)ethnolinguistics
E)core vocabulary

Question 22

The system of communication using sounds and/or gestures is called _______________.

A)kinesics
B)language
C)speech
D)paralanguage
E)vocal qualifiers

Question 23

Admiration for a NEW and clever phrase;the development of a specialized vocabulary to distinguish a professional group;the efforts of the members of the upper class to distinguish themselves from the lower classes by maintaining a distinct mode of pronunciation--all of these may contribute to _______________.

A)linguistic divergence
B)vocal segregation
C)substitution frames
D)core vocabulary
E)a Whorfian hypothesis

Question 24

Which of the following statements about linguistic divergence is incorrect?

A)One force for linguistic change is borrowing by one language from another.
B)If languages were isolated from each other,there would be very little linguistic change.
C)NEW vocabulary emerges in a language due to a quest for novelty and the development of specialized vocabulary by groups.
D)Changes in pronunciation may emerge as markers of class boundary (e.g. ,upper-class "U" vs.
"Non-U")
E)Dying languages may be revived in the name of linguistic nationalism.

Question 25

Paralanguage is to speech as _______________ is to position of the body.

A)kinesics
B)ethnolinguistics
C)form class
D)phonetics
E)displacement

Question 26

Paralanguage includes not only the way that people say things but also a variety of extralinguistic noises called _______________.

A)phonemes
B)kinesics
C)vocalizations
D)substitution frames
E)syntax

Question 27

_______________ linguistics is concerned with the study of relationships between earlier and later forms of a language,antecedents (in older languages)of developments in modern languages,and relationships among older languages.

A)Extra-
B)Descriptive
C)Socio-
D)Historical
E)Para-

Question 28

A language family is a group of languages _______________.

A)that all have the same core vocabulary
B)that are subordinate to a dominant language
C)that all have the same syntax
D)that use the same number of sounds
E)that are descended from a single ancestral language

Question 29

The influence of a person's class status on what pronunciation he/she uses;a speaker's choice of more complicated vocabulary and grammar when he/she is speaking to a professional audience;the influence of language on culture--all these are the concerns of _______________.

A)descriptive linguistics
B)historical linguistics
C)sociolinguistics
D)linguistic nationalism
E)displacement

Question 30

Which of the following would be an acceptable research topic in the field of historical linguistics?

A)whether or not the speakers of Apache and Navajo once spoke a common language.
B)whether or not Apache and Navajo speakers use the same body language to signal gender differences
C)whether or not Apache and Navajo speakers organize their languages using the same syntactical structures
D)all the features of a given language as it is spoken at a particular point in time
E)frame substitution to investigate the syntax of a particular language

Question 31

Which of the following statements about kinesics is correct?

A)Kinesics refers to the system of extralinguistic noises that accompany spoken language.
B)Kinesic research has demonstrated that gender signals communicated through posture are biologically based rather than learned.
C)Cross-cultural research indicates that the body language used when people are greeting each other is similar all over the world.
D)All cultures have the same gestures for "yes" and "no."
E)All of the above are correct.

Question 32

Which of the following statements about the English language is correct?

A)English belongs to the Indo-European language family.
B)English belongs to the Germanic language subgroup.
C)English is one of the many languages which diverged from an ancient unified language called Proto-Indo-European.
D)English is a "daughter" language.
E)All of the above are correct.

Question 33

Which of the following is not an example of linguistic nationalism?

A)You are a Spanish speaking person in the U.S. ,but want your children to use English so they will fit in more easily with the surrounding society.
B)A national committee in France declares that certain widely used terms will no longer be allowed to appear in public print because they are not French.
C)You live in Scotland and are so alarmed by the rapid decline in the number of people speaking Gaelic that you start a school in which all subjects are taught in Gaelic.
D)The southern part of India declares itself a separate country called Tamiland (the land of the people who speak Tamil)in defiance of India's declaration of Hindi as the national language;people who speak Tamil)in defiance of India's declaration of Hindi as the national language;people say they will die in defense of their mother tongue."
E)A country previously colonized by the British passes a law requiring everyone to speak the native tongue;English is banned because of its association with colonial domination.

Question 34

Which of the following statements about the theory of linguistic relativity is correct?

A)It was first formulated by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf.
B)It may be briefly explained with the phrase,"Language does not determine the reality which speakers of the language perceive."
C)It may be briefly explained with the phrase,"Language is reality--it only mirrors what people perceive."
D)It is expressed in this example: if in a factory a metal drum is labeled "full",people will perceive it as empty and do things with it that may create a fire hazard (such as storing it near a furnace);it as a first hazard and treat it more carefully,but if it is labeled "empty" of gaseous fumes,people may treat it more carefully.
E)None of the above is incorrect.

Question 35

The development of different languages from a single ancestral language is called _______________.

A)descriptive linguistics
B)historical linguistics
C)language subgroups
D)linguistic divergence
E)linguistic nationalism

Question 36

In the 1930's and 40s,Edward Sapir and _______________ investigated the idea that language,by providing habitual grooves of expression,predisposes people to see the world in a certain way.

A)Leslie White
B)Franz Boas
C)Benjamin Lee Whorf
D)Peter Woolfson
E)Bill Haviland

Question 37

Although language may be studied as an independent system,it is also important to look at language in terms of what it tells us about society and culture.Whatever its phonemes,syntax,and history,language is a dynamic,adaptive system which facilitates the speakers' survival and gives clues about what is significant in their lives.When we focus on the relationship between language and culture of those who speak it and how they inform each other,we are doing _______________.

A)ethnolinguistics
B)descriptive linguistics
C)historical linguistics
D)glottochronology
E)frame substitution

Question 38

If the core vocabulary of two languages is compared by glottochronologists,it is thought possible to determine _______________.

A)if the two languages perceive reality in the same way
B)if the two languages use the same syntax
C)if they share the same allophones
D)if they have a similar technology
E)how long ago the languages separated from each other

Question 39

Kinesics is a method for notating and analyzing _______________.

A)screaming
B)kissing
C)any form of body language.
D)fighting
E)food

Question 40

In contrast with historical linguistics,descriptive linguistics _______________.

A)attempts to explain the features of a particular language at one time in its history
B)looks at languages as separate systems without considering how they might be related to each other
C)attempts to construct a language's historical development
D)investigates relationships between earlier and later forms of the same language
E)a and b only

Question 41

Humans talk,while much communication among other primates is done through _______________.

A)grunts
B)screams
C)gestures
D)symbolism
E)unconscious

Question 42

_______________ is a series of symbols representing sounds of a language arranged in a traditional order.

A)Linguistics
B)Grammar
C)Glottochronology
D)Alphabet
E)Speech

Question 43

The roots of linguistics,the modern scientific study of language,go back a long way to the works of ancient grammarians in _____________,more than two thousand years ago.

A)India
B)Greece
C)Egypt
D)Mesopotamia
E)Persia

Question 44

A language in which the sound pitch of a spoken word is an essential part of its pronunciation and meaning is called a ________________.

A)paralinguistic language
B)tonal language
C)linguistic family
D)dialect
E)displacement

Question 45

Which of the following is not a branch of the science of linguistics?

A)Ethnology
B)Descriptive
C)Historical
D)Social
E)All of the above are branches of linguistics.

Question 46

Edward Hall articulated aspects of nonverbal communication in his 1959 book _______________,now recognized as the founding document for the field of intercultural communication.

A)Kinesics and Context
B)Language,Thought and Reality
C)The Silent Language
D)Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution
E)A Practical Introduction to Phonetics

Question 47

Punching the palm of the hand for emphasis,raising the head and brows when asking a question,or using the hands to illustrate what is being discussed are forms of _______________ messages that accompany spoken messages.

A)hidden
B)unconscious
C)obvious
D)colorful
E)gestural

Question 48

A Scottish butler in an English mansion says to the lady of the house,"You may wish to stay inside today,Madam;it's quite cold outside." But when he goes back to his own cottage he is likely to say to his wife in broad Scots,"Shut the door and get inside,Maggie,you'll freeze your buns off." In linguistics this is an example of _______________.

A)code switching
B)class consciousness
C)glottochronology
D)phonological analysis
E)Whorfian hypothesis

Question 49

United Nations declared the period from 2003 to 2012 as the _______________ Decade.

A)Technology
B)Communication
C)Paralanguage
D)Illiteracy
E)Literacy

Question 50

Edward Hall designated four categories of proxemically relevant spaces.Which of the following is incorrect?

A)intimate (0-18 inches)
B)social-consultive (4-12 feet)
C)conventional (7-10 feet)
D)public distance (12 feet and beyond)
E)personal-casual (1.5 - 4 feet)

Question 51

The term is usually used to refer to varying forms of a language that reflect particular regions or social classes and that are similar enough to be mutually intelligible.

A)dialect
B)language subgroup
C)language family
D)linguistic nationalism
E)Whorfian hypothesis

Question 52

Native speakers of the Lakota language were amused when they saw the movie Dances with Wolves because __________________________________________.

A)the writers got it all wrong
B)the language did not fit the people group
C)the language was all male oriented
D)the language was all female oriented
E)the language was all spoken as if the actors were children

Question 53

The French attempt to purge their language of such Americanisms as le hamburger,is a case of _______________.

A)linguistic cleansing
B)linguistic catharsis
C)linguistic purging
D)linguistic nationalism
E)linguistic negativism

Question 54

Among the oldest complete writing systems in the world is _______________,developed about ________ years ago and in use for about 3,500 years.

A)Mesopotamian wedge-shaped writing/4000
B)Egyptian hieroglyphics/5,000
C)Chinese pictographs/3,500
D)Maya hieroglyphics/2,500
E)Semitic inscriptions/3,000

Question 55

_______________ refers to the study of the structure and use of language as it relates to its cultural setting.

A)Descriptive linguistics
B)Ethnolinguistics
C)Historical linguistics
D)Kinesics
E)Code switching

Question 56

_______________ is the cross-cultural study of humankind's perception and use of space.

A)Kinesics
B)Proxemics
C)Phonetics
D)Ethnography
E)Ethnology

Question 57

Humankind's repertoire of body language is enormous.They are capable of making more than ________ facial expressions.

A)1,500
B)10,000
C)7,000
D)4,000
E)3,500

Question 58

Approximately how many adults worldwide cannot read or write?

A)93 million
B)270 million
C)740 million
D)800 million
E)1 billion

Question 59

The study of the chimpanzee Chantek indicated that _______________.

A)orangutans are incapable of spoken language
B)orangutans are capable of spoken language
C)orangutans are incapable of paralanguage
D)orangutans are incapable of kinesics
E)monkeys are incapable of spoken language

Question 60

The Bushman languages in southern Africa use a unique ________________ sound.

A)click
B)burbling
C)throaty
D)choking
E)lung inflated

Question 61

Human culture as we know it could have easily existed without language.

Question 62

Knowledge of the workings of language is essential to a full understanding of what culture is about and how it operates.

Question 63

It takes many years of practice for people to master the muscular movements needed to produce the precise sounds of any particular language.

Question 64

A few languages exist which do not incorporate nonverbal communications into their language.

Question 65

Wampum belts were used to convey a variety of messages through the use of symbols.

Question 66

Most of the alphabets in use today descended from the

A)Egyptians.
B)Greeks.
C)Phoenicians.
D)Romans.
E)Anglo Saxons.

Question 67

All languages that have been studied,including those of people with supposedly "primitive" cultures,are complex,highly developed,and able to express a wide range of experiences.

Question 68

Even in poor illiterate areas,the demand for ____________________ is high,which contributes to the globalization issues of communication.

A)More schools
B)Cell phones
C)Computer kiosks
D)Books in English
E)Satellite phone services.

Question 69

Today,more than ___________________ million people cannot read and write.

A)400
B)500
C)1
D)800
E)37

Question 70

Language belonging to the Iroquoian family are among the few in the world with no bilabial stops.

Question 71

Chantek was a gorilla who learned American Sign Language.

Question 72

The gesture component of the gesture-call system consists of facial expressions and bodily postures and motions that convey intended but not subconscious messages.

Question 73

Attempts to teach other primates to talk like humans have not been successful.

Question 74

By applying a logarithmic formula to two related core vocabularies,one can determine how many years the two languages have been separated.

Question 75

Linguistic nationalism refers to the establishment of a nation which everyone speaks only one language.

Question 76

The mobile phone is a fast method of communicating,even in remote rural areas of the world.

Question 78

Glottochronology assumes that the rate at which a language's core vocabulary changes is variable and thus cannot be used to give an exact date for when two languages diverged.

Question 79

The United Nations declared September 8 as _________________________.

A)Alphabet Learning Day
B)World Peace Day
C)World Hunger Eradication Day
D)Clean Water Day
E)International Literacy Day

Question 80

Code switching refers to the tendency of people who speak more than one language to confuse which language they are currently speaking in as they converse with others.