Question 1

Languages and dialects are more accurately described as flexible collections of linguistic practice rather than concrete unchanging entities

Accepted Answer

Languages and dialects are constantly evolving and changing due to factors like cultural exchange, technological advancements, and social dynamics, making them flexible and dynamic rather than static and unchanging.

Question 2

Monolingualism is quite rare in countries throughout the world.

Accepted Answer

Most people around the world are bilingual or multilingual, with monolingualism being less common, especially in countries with diverse ethnic groups, colonial histories, or close proximity to linguistic borders.

Question 3

Nonaccommodating bilingualism is a very interesting response to a particular context. Describe a case of nonaccommodating bilingualism, and identify the context of this practice.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Nonaccommodating bilingualism is a very interesting response...

Question 4

Compare and contrast transitional and stable bilingualism. Discuss the role of language ideology in these two sorts of bilingual situation.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Compare and contrast transitional and stable bilingualism....

Question 5

In 1996, the Oakland School board set off a controversy with a resolution to recognize AAVE (or "Ebonics" as a "primary language" of African American students in the district. Describe the support offered by linguistics for this resolution, and the obstacles which this resolution faced. In your opinion, can the support successfully challenge these obstacles?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In 1996, the Oakland School board set...

Question 6

"Proto-World" is a highly developed reconstructed protolanguage.

Accepted Answer

"Proto-World" refers to the hypothetical, most recent common ancestor of all the world's languages, but it is not a reconstructed language due to the lack of direct evidence and the immense time depth involved.

Question 7

Once we have reconstructed a protolanguage, we should be able to infer something about the culture of the people who spoke the language and the region in which it may have been spoken.

Accepted Answer

Reconstructing a protolanguage can give insights into the culture of its speakers through the vocabulary that pertains to their daily lives, social structures, environment, and technology, and can also suggest the geographical area they inhabited based on words related to flora, fauna, and climate.

Question 8

A particular dialect generally becomes accepted as a "standard" because

Accepted Answer

A dialect typically becomes accepted as a "standard" when it is used by the socially dominant or prestigious groups in a society, rather than because of any inherent linguistic qualities.

Question 9

Although languages generally change very slowly, one example of rapid change in language is the development of

Accepted Answer

Pidgins develop rapidly as a means of communication between speakers of different languages, often for trade or other practical purposes. They are simplified languages that combine elements of the involved languages.

Question 10

In cases of nonaccommodating bilingualism, speakers of one language cannot understand anything that speakers of the other language say.

Accepted Answer

Nonaccommodating bilingualism refers to situations where speakers of different languages do not adjust their language use to accommodate each other, but it does not necessarily mean they cannot understand each other at all.

Question 11

Internal change tends to be more slow and predictable than external change in language.

Accepted Answer

Internal change refers to the natural evolution of language structures and vocabulary over time, driven by factors like phonetic shifts, grammatical simplifications, and the internal logic of the language itself. These changes are typically gradual and predictable, following patterns that linguists can often trace and anticipate. In contrast, external change involves the influence of outside factors such as contact with other languages, cultural shifts, and technological innovations, which can introduce rapid and less predictable changes to a language.

Question 12

Briefly describe the process of recreating a proto-language. Explain what we can hypothesize as part of this process, and why we must mark proto-language morphemes with an asterisk rather than transcribing them as we do living languages.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Briefly describe the process of recreating a...

Question 13

A creole is a language that

Accepted Answer

A creole develops from a pidgin, which is a simplified form of language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. When a pidgin becomes stable, more complex, and learned as a native language by children, it becomes a creole.

Question 14

When the Oakland School board wanted to establish instruction in Ebonics, in addition to English, they cited research arguing that Ebonics was a

Accepted Answer

Ebonics is considered a creole language, which has roots in African languages and developed during the period of slavery when African people were brought to America and needed a way to communicate both with their European captors and among themselves.

Question 15

A pidgin is a language that

Accepted Answer

A pidgin develops as a trade language or a means of communication among people who do not share a common language.

Question 16

A situation in which individuals and communities maintain their bilingualism on a long-term basis is known as

Accepted Answer

Stable bilingualism refers to a situation where individuals or communities continue to use two languages over a long period without one language being significantly at the expense of the other. This contrasts with transitional bilingualism, where the use of the first language is gradually replaced by the second.

Question 17

A protolanguage is a language that more closely corresponds to the deep structures in the brain.

Accepted Answer

A protolanguage is a hypothetical undocumented parent language from which actual languages are derived, not a language that corresponds to deep structures in the brain.

Quiz 9: Change and Choice