Deck 5: Language

Question 1

The most important language family in Sub-Saharan Africa is

A) Khoisan.
B) Niger-Congo.
C) Nilo-Saharan.
D) Afro-Asiatic.
E) Altaic.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

English is part of which language family?

A) Germanic
B) North Germanic
C) West Germanic
D) Indo-European
E) Romance

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The main difference between languages in the same family,branch,or group is how

A) recently in time the languages were once the same.
B) closely the speakers of each language live to each other.
C) similar the cultures of the speakers of each language are.
D) all of the above

Answer 3

A

Question 4

A group of languages that share a common ancestor before recorded history is a

A) dialect.
B) language branch.
C) language family.
D) language group.
E) language root.

Question 5

When languages are depicted as leaves on trees,the trunks of the trees represent

A) dialects.
B) language groups.
C) language families.
D) possible prehistoric superfamilies.
E) language sects.

Question 6

English is part of which language branch?

A) Germanic
B) North Germanic
C) West Germanic
D) Indo-European
E) Austronesian

Question 7

A group of languages that share a common origin but have since evolved into individual languages is a

A) dialect.
B) language branch.
C) language family.
D) language group.
E) language root.

Question 8

The residents of Hong Kong,China are exposed to a lot of English especially because

A) it is an easier language to speak and understand.
B) all television programming is in English.
C) it was until recently a British colony.
D) many Australian tourists visit each year.
E) None of these explanations is correct.

Question 9

The two largest language families in the world are

A) Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic.
B) Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European.
C) Afro-Asiatic and Sino-Tibetan.
D) Balto-Slavic and Sino-Tibetan.
E) Altaic and Nilo-Saharan.

Question 10

How many language families in the world have at least 100 million native speakers?

A) seven
B) nine
C) ten
D) twelve
E) fifteen

Question 11

A literary tradition is

A) a form of a language used for official government business.
B) a form of a language spoken in a particular area.
C) a collection of languages related to each other.
D) the written form of a language.
E) the variety of dialects in a language.

Question 12

Which of the following is not one of the four most commonly spoken branches of Indo-European?

A) Balto-Slavic
B) Germanic
C) Romance
D) Greek
E) Indo-Iranian

Question 13

When languages are depicted as leaves on trees,the roots of the trees below the surface represent

A) dialects.
B) language groups.
C) language sects.
D) language families.
E) possible prehistoric superfamilies.

Question 14

From most distant to closest relatives,languages can be classified into

A) families, branches, and groups.
B) branches, families, and groups.
C) branches, groups, and families.
D) families, groups, and branches.
E) groups, branches, and families.

Question 15

The geographic study of the distribution of languages provides a good example of

A) the interplay between globalization and local diversity.
B) the diffusion of folk culture in different areas of the world.
C) the role and spread of religion across much of the world.
D) political conflicts that arise due to ethnic tensions.

Question 16

The second-largest language family is

A) Indo-European.
B) Sino-Tibetan.
C) Afro-Asiatic.
D) Austronesian.
E) Dravidian.

Question 17

Which of the following is not a Romance language?

A) Bulgarian
B) Italian
C) Portuguese
D) Romanian
E) French

Question 18

Russian is part of what language branch?

A) Balto-Slavic
B) Germanic
C) Indo-Iranian
D) Romance
E) Altaic

Question 19

The predominant language branch of Russia and Central Europe is

A) Finno-Ugric.
B) Romance.
C) Celtic.
D) Scandinavian.
E) Balto-Slavic.

Question 20

Tens of thousands of years ago,languages may have been joined together as

A) branches.
B) superfamilies.
C) groups.
D) lingua franca.
E) families.

Question 21

Both the Angles and the Normans contributed to the development of the English language,because they

A) spoke Germanic languages.
B) invaded England.
C) spoke languages derived from Latin.
D) diffused English around the world.
E) agreed to divide England.

Question 22

The first speakers of the language that evolved into English were tribes that lived in present-day

A) France.
B) Denmark.
C) United States.
D) Italy.
E) Switzerland.

Question 23

Multiple dialects of American English formed because of

A) isolation from one another after independence.
B) different cultural influences on each group.
C) the Atlantic Ocean.
D) invasions, including by the Angles, Normans, and Saxons.
E) differences in the dialects of the colonial settlers.

Question 24

Immigrants to which American colonies had the most diverse backgrounds?

A) Middle Atlantic
B) New England
C) Northern
D) Southeast
E) French Canadian

Question 25

An isogloss is

A) a form of a language spoken in a local area.
B) a collection of unique words.
C) a boundary between language regions.
D) a blending of two language families.
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 26

A lingua franca is

A) an English word that has entered the French language.
B) a language that is mutually understood by people who have different native languages.
C) an extinct language that has been revived.
D) an official language in a region of the world different from where the language originated.
E) a language used by French colonial administrations.

Question 27

English is the leading language on the Internet

A) and is growing in its share of users.
B) but is becoming less important.
C) because English characters are the most common on computer keyboards.
D) because the Internet is written in English.
E) but other Internets exist for languages like Russian and Chinese.

Question 28

A language without known language relatives is a(n)

A) lingua franca.
B) vulgar Latin.
C) isolated language.
D) isogloss.
E) pidgin language.

Question 29

Which branch of Indo-European has the most native speakers?

A) Indo-Iranian
B) Germanic
C) Romance
D) Balto-Slavic
E) Greek

Question 30

The Anatolian and Kurgan Hearth theories are both an explanation of language diffusing through

A) warfare.
B) agriculture.
C) migration.
D) colonization.
E) sea voyages.

Question 31

Dialects developed within England primarily because

A) different Germanic invaders settled in different regions.
B) the Normans invaded from the south.
C) the Viking invaders did not remain long in England.
D) British Received Pronunciation became the standard dialect.
E) commerce developed more slowly in England than on the European continent.

Question 32

Marija Gimbutas' theory points to the first speakers of the Indo-European language as the ancient

A) Celts.
B) Germans.
C) Kurgans.
D) Russians.
E) Dravidians.

Question 33

Germanic invaders of England included which tribe?

A) Angles
B) Saxons
C) Jutes
D) Normans
E) All of these groups except Normans.

Question 34

A language used by the government for business and official documents is a(n)

A) lingua franca.
B) official language.
C) vulgar latin.
D) creole.
E) literary tradition.

Question 35

A form of a language spoken in a local area is a

A) dialect.
B) language branch.
C) language family.
D) language group.
E) language root.

Question 36

The Kurgans

A) conquered much of East Asia several thousand years ago.
B) were a Germanic tribe that invaded England.
C) were horse and cattle herders from the grassland steppes of present day Russia and Kazakhstan.
D) preserved Basque in present-day Spain.
E) were the earliest speakers of Sino-Caucasian.

Question 37

British and American English differ in all but which of the following?

A) alphabet
B) pronunciation
C) spelling
D) vocabulary
E) prevalent dialects

Question 38

When people who speak a given language migrate to a different location and become isolated from other members of their group,

A) their language usually shows very little change even over a long period of time.
B) they immediately develop a literary tradition.
C) various dialects may develop.
D) they lose their linguistic abilities.
E) subgroups form multiple languages.

Question 39

All but which are true about the English language?

A) It is a lingua franca.
B) Recent growth in use is due to expansion diffusion.
C) It is an Indo-European language.
D) It is an isogloss.
E) It is the leading language of the Internet.

Question 40

According to Colin Renfrew's Anatolian hearth theory,Indo-European languages diffused across Europe

A) entirely by sea.
B) by way of the Kurgan homeland.
C) by warriors on horseback.
D) with the diffusion of agriculture.
E) following the silk road.

Question 41

Hebrew is an example of

A) an isolated language.
B) an extinct language.
C) a revived language.
D) a language family.
E) an Altaic language.

Question 42

The present distribution of languages around the world is due to technological advances and the diffusion of popular culture.

Question 43

Germanic,Romance,and Latin are all branches of Indo-European.

Question 44

Language is a part of culture.

Question 45

Québec has acted to protect the French language by

A) outlawing other languages in public.
B) electing English-speaking leaders.
C) accepting only French-speaking immigrants.
D) having one of the strongest economies in Canada.
E) requiring its use on signs.

Question 46

Indo-Iranian is the branch of Indo-European with the most speakers.

Question 47

Official languages in Switzerland include all but which of the following?

A) Italian
B) Flemish
C) Romansh
D) French
E) German

Question 48

All languages have a literary tradition but these traditions are being lost.

Question 49

Nigeria's cultural diversity is summed up by

A) the diverse ecosystems that make up the country.
B) the more than 500 distinct languages spoken there.
C) its location in western Africa.
D) its colonial history under the British.
E) the movement of the capital from Lagos to Abuja.

Question 50

Spanish is increasingly important in the United States because

A) of large-scale immigration from Latin America.
B) 27 states have made it an official language.
C) schools are increasingly requiring it for high school graduation.
D) of increasing exports to Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries.
E) None of these answers is correct;Spanish is decreasing in importance.

Question 51

The Flemings and Walloons speak languages belonging to different

A) dialects.
B) language branches.
C) language families.
D) language groups.
E) language sects.

Question 52

The Flemings and Walloons live in what country?

A) Belgium
B) France
C) South Africa
D) Switzerland
E) Liechtenstein

Question 53

Nearly half the people in the world speak an Indo-European language.

Question 54

A language family is a collection of languages related through a common ancestral language existing before recorded history.

Question 55

A creolized language is

A) extinct.
B) a mix of indigenous and colonial languages.
C) an isolated language family.
D) a possible prehistoric superfamily.
E) a revived formerly extinct language.

Question 56

Basque is a good example of a(n)

A) language family.
B) language group.
C) lingua franca.
D) isolated language.

Question 57

________ is to Canada as ________ is to the United States.

A) French;Spanish
B) Presidential government;parliamentary government
C) Conflict over ethnicity;conflict over language
D) Northern hemisphere;southern hemisphere
E) Dialect;accent

Question 58

Language families are all approximately equal in size.

Question 59

The most spoken Afro-Asiatic language is Arabic.

Question 60

A language's survival depends on

A) its similarity to other languages.
B) the ease foreign speakers have in learning it.
C) its existence on a small island.
D) the political and military strength of its speakers.
E) the homogenization of its dialects.

Question 61

French speakers in Québec have considered separation from Canada.

Question 62

Evidence suggests the first speakers of Indo-European may have been the Kurgans.

Question 63

How may have people from Anatolia been important to the geography of language?

Question 64

Indo-European divided into different branches because of isolation of different speakers.

Question 65

Name the world's second largest language family (used by over one-fifth of the world's population).

Question 66

Belgium's multilingual divisions are more peaceful than Switzerland's.

Question 67

In what three ways does the English used in the United States differ from the English used in the United Kingdom?

Question 68

Who were the Kurgans and how may they have been important to the geography of language?

Question 69

English was spread around the world through the establishment of British colonies.

Question 70

Hebrew is an example of an extinct language.

Question 71

Name the world's largest language family (used by nearly half of the world's population).

Question 72

England's isolation as an island means that English developed free of influence from other languages.

Question 73

The Angles,Jutes,and Saxons were Celtic tribes who invaded England.

Question 74

New Englanders use a different dialect of English than other Americans because they came from different regions of England.

Question 75

A pidgin language is a mixture of a colonial and indigenous language.

Question 76

Basque is the only non-Indo-European language currently spoken in Europe.

Question 77

Regional dialects in England can be traced back to the settlement patterns of the Angles,Saxons,and Jutes.

Question 78

What geographic factor accounts for the fact that both Americans and the British speak English?

Question 79

Switzerland has four official languages.

Question 80

Americans spell words differently than the British primarily because of a strong national desire in the United States for an independent identity.