Question 1

Why can we not use the languages of nonliterate societies to learn about the origins of language?
A) Their languages are not simpler or less developed than our own.
B) Their written histories do not go far enough back in time.
C) They were often developed more recently than written languages.
D) Languages of nonliterate societies change too quickly to be any use for study.

Accepted Answer

Languages of nonliterate societies are not simpler or less developed than those of literate societies; they are equally complex and capable of expressing a wide range of human experience and knowledge. The complexity of a language is not determined by whether its speakers have a writing system.

Question 2

What is a protolanguage?
A) spoken reconstructed language from which modern languages derived
B) the simplest form of language known, with no tenses or number terms
C) the language that early Homo sapiens is believed to have spoken
D) the rudimentary language used by the apes and monkeys

Accepted Answer

A protolanguage is a reconstructed language from which modern languages are derived. It is not a real language that was actually spoken, but rather an attempt by linguists to reconstruct the hypothetical ancestor language based on related modern languages.

Question 3

It is estimated that __________ percent of the world's languages are endangered.
A) 50 to 90
B) 30 to 50
C) 90 to 95
D) 15 to 25

Accepted Answer

According to UNESCO, it is estimated that 50 to 90 percent of the world's languages are endangered. This means that they are at risk of disappearing in the near future due to factors such as globalization, cultural assimilation, and the dominance of a few major languages. It is important to document and preserve endangered languages as they hold valuable cultural and linguistic knowledge that would be lost forever if they were to disappear.

Question 4

To what language family does English belong?
A) Indo-European
B) Indo-Iranian
C) Latin
D) Sanskrit

Accepted Answer

English belongs to the Indo-European language family, which is the largest language family in the world. This language family includes many languages spoken in Europe, as well as in parts of Asia and the Americas.

Question 5

Research has shown that English people from higher-class backgrounds tend to have more __________ speech, conforming more to what is considered standard English.
A) homogeneous
B) inductive
C) deductive
D) heterogeneous

Accepted Answer

Homogeneous speech means it is uniform or similar throughout, which aligns with the idea that people from higher-class backgrounds tend to conform more to standard English, making their speech more uniform in terms of adherence to linguistic norms.

Question 6

Any system of communication consists of publicly accepted __________ by which individuals try to share private experiences.
A) symbols
B) beliefs
C) ideas
D) facts

Accepted Answer

Symbols are the most commonly accepted means of communication. They are used to convey messages and emotions, ideas, or thoughts. Humans use symbols to share their experiences, thoughts, and emotions with others, even when the experiences, thoughts, or emotions are private. Symbols can be verbal or non-verbal, and they can take various forms, including words, gestures, images, sounds, or actions, depending on the context of communication.

Question 7

While English has 26 letters, it has __________ significant sounds.
A) about 40
B) only 15
C) around 100 D thousands of

Accepted Answer

English has around 40 significant sounds, also known as phonemes, which are used to create all of the words in the language. These sounds can be combined and manipulated to create different words with different meanings, even though they may share some of the same sounds.

Question 8

Which feature is shared by all creole languages?
A) the use of double negatives
B) a restricted set of color terms
C) an inclusion of gendered nouns
D) the use of a past tense

Accepted Answer

The use of double negatives is a feature shared by all creole languages.

Question 9

A study comparing Japanese and American facial expressions found that __________.
A) the two had similar expressions in private, but the Japanese participants tried to mask their feelings in front of authority figures
B) the two had similar expressions in public, but the American participants were more expressive when they thought they were alone
C) participants of both cultural groups were careful to mask their feelings in front of authority figures
D) participants of the two cultural groups had nearly identical facial expressions, both in public and in private

Accepted Answer

The study found that Japanese and American participants had similar facial expressions when they were alone, but when around authority figures, the Japanese participants were more likely to mask their feelings.

Question 10

The earliest writing systems are about __________ years old.
A) 6,000
B) 2,000
C) 3,000
D) 10,000

Accepted Answer

The earliest writing systems, such as cuneiform in Mesopotamia and hieroglyphics in Egypt, are about 6,000 years old, dating back to around 4,000 BCE.

Question 11

The controversial Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proposes that __________.
A) language affects how individuals in a society perceive and conceive reality
B) culture has a strong influence on how we speak languages
C) languages reflect the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the society
D) language and culture have no measurable influence on each other

Accepted Answer

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that language affects how people perceive and think about the world around them. This means that the words and concepts available in a particular language can shape the way individuals in a society conceive reality. The hypothesis has generated much debate, but some research has demonstrated that language can influence such diverse areas as perceptual discrimination, color perception, and memory.

Question 12

The fact that there are thousands of languages tells us that language is __________.
A) not completely biologically determined
B) not affected by cultural variation
C) arranged primarily by geography
D) the most difficult aspect of cultural anthropology

Accepted Answer

The existence of thousands of languages indicates that language is not completely biologically determined, as there is such variation among languages.

Question 13

What does it mean to say that a word or sound is arbitrary?
A) One cannot just guess the meaning from the sound.
B) It has the same meaning in nearly all languages.
C) The word's meaning is the opposite of what it sounds like.
D) The meaning of the word has changed over the years.

Accepted Answer

When we say that a word or sound is arbitrary, it means that its meaning is not directly related to its sound or appearance. In other words, we cannot guess the meaning of a word just by looking at its letters or by hearing its sounds. We need to learn its meaning through context or explicit instruction.

Question 14

How many mutually unintelligible languages have been identified?
A) more than 6,000
B) 2,000 to 3,000
C) fewer than 1,000
D) 4,000 to 5,000

Accepted Answer

Linguists estimate that there are currently over 6,000 languages in the world, many of which are mutually unintelligible.

Question 15

Nonhuman vocal systems are often referred to as __________ systems, because they do not combine different calls to produce new meanings.
A) closed
B) absolute
C) limited
D) restricted

Accepted Answer

Nonhuman vocal systems are often referred to as "closed" systems because they do not have the capacity to combine different calls to create new meanings.

Question 16

Animal systems, such as sound or odor, represent __________ but not __________.
A) communication; language
B) symbolism; communication
C) messages; symbolism
D) language; messages

Accepted Answer

Animal systems like sound or odor can communicate messages between animals, but they do not represent language with the same complexity and structure as human language. Therefore, choice A is the most accurate.

Question 17

Children learn spoken language at __________.
A) about the same age in all cultures
B) a relatively later age in simpler societies
C) a wide range of ages, but with no correlation with societal complexity
D) a relatively later age in more complex societies

Accepted Answer

Children generally learn spoken language at about the same age in all cultures, although there may be some variation in the specific language(s) they are exposed to or in the degree to which they are encouraged to use language at different ages.

Question 18

What is the major cause of the disappearance of native languages?
A) The languages are no longer being taught to children.
B) They are not able to create new terms to keep up with technological advances.
C) Most nations have outlawed the use of indigenous languages.
D) It is nearly impossible to learn a language without an associated writing system.

Accepted Answer

The major cause of the disappearance of native languages is that they are no longer being taught to children. As younger generations learn and use other languages, the use of the native language declines and eventually disappears.

Question 19

Why is it so difficult to pinpoint the emergence of the earliest languages?
A) Written language only appeared about 5,000 years ago.
B) Modern apes have a rudimentary language, so it must date to at least the divergence of the human and ape lineages.
C) There are clear structural differences in the brains of people who speak and people who don't, but we have no fossilized evidence of brain structure.
D) Every culture reports that they have been able to speak since the beginning of time.

Accepted Answer

The earliest languages are difficult to pinpoint because written language only appeared about 5,000 years ago, leaving no direct evidence of earlier spoken languages.

Question 20

In Robert Schrauf's comparative study, which group was used to represent immigrants with the greatest retention of their native language?
A) third-generation immigrants
B) second-generation immigrants
C) first-generation immigrants
D) fourth-generation immigrants

Accepted Answer

The answer of In Robert Schrauf's comparative study, which group...

Quiz 5: Communication and Language

Why can we not use the languages of nonliterate societies to learn about the origins of language?

What is a protolanguage?

It is estimated that __________ percent of the world's languages are endangered.

To what language family does English belong?

Research has shown that English people from higher-class backgrounds tend to have more __________ speech, conforming more to what is considered standard English.

Any system of communication consists of publicly accepted __________ by which individuals try to share private experiences.

While English has 26 letters, it has __________ significant sounds.

Which feature is shared by all creole languages?

A study comparing Japanese and American facial expressions found that __________.

The earliest writing systems are about __________ years old.

The controversial Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proposes that __________.

The fact that there are thousands of languages tells us that language is __________.

What does it mean to say that a word or sound is arbitrary?

How many mutually unintelligible languages have been identified?

Nonhuman vocal systems are often referred to as __________ systems, because they do not combine different calls to produce new meanings.

Animal systems, such as sound or odor, represent but not .

Children learn spoken language at __________.

What is the major cause of the disappearance of native languages?

Why is it so difficult to pinpoint the emergence of the earliest languages?

In Robert Schrauf's comparative study, which group was used to represent immigrants with the greatest retention of their native language?