Deck 4: Language: Is This What Makes Us Human

Question 1

Linguistics became part of the discipline of anthropology because

A) studying syntax helps one to learn a language.
B) a knowledge of historical linguistics improved ethnographic fieldwork.
C) many aboriginal cultures had no written language.
D) university departments of linguistics and anthropology merged.

Answer 1

many aboriginal cultures had no written language.

Question 2

All of the following are units of descriptive linguistics EXCEPT

A) phonemes.
B) syntax.
C) morphemes.
D) kinesics.

Answer 2

kinesics.

Question 3

The first step in the descriptive linguistic study of a language is to

A) make a list of words in the language.
B) identify phonemes in the language.
C) identify morphemes used in the language.
D) record syntax used in the language.

Answer 3

identify phonemes in the language.

Question 4

Which of the following represents a morpheme in English?

A) dog
B) dogs
C) doggedly
D) doghouse

Question 5

How many morphemes are in the word "filled"?

A) one
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four

Question 6

How many phonemes are in the word "rat"?

A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four

Question 7

How many phonemes are in the word "pig"?

A) One
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four

Question 8

Statistical analysis of the evolution of vocabulary meanings in Indo-European languages indicates that

A) less used words change slowly.
B) frequently used words change slowly.
C) frequently used words change rapidly.
D) both frequently and less used words change at the same rate.

Question 9

The following pair of sounds are made using the same vocal anatomy (such as teeth, lips, tongue, vocal cords).The only difference between them is that one is voiced and the other is not.

A) (m) and (n)
B) (c) and (t)
C) (p) and (b)
D) (d) and (r)

Question 10

Which of the following languages is more complex?

A) Chinese
B) English
C) German
D) None is more complex than another.

Question 11

The complex cattle-related vocabulary of the Nuer is an example of the adaptive nature of culture and would be studied by a specialist in

A) ethnolinguistics.
B) morphology.
C) syntax.
D) historical linguistics.

Question 12

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that

A) language is an inevitable result of every culture.
B) language constructs our perception of reality.
C) linguistics is only applicable to cultures with written records.
D) culture is the result of language.

Question 13

You are a linguistic anthropologist studying the differences between suburbs and innercity gang languages.What area of linguistic anthropology are you studying?

A) descriptive linguistics
B) historical linguistics
C) sociolinguistics
D) ethnolinguistics

Question 14

Who formulated the idea that language structures our perception of reality?

A) E. E. Evans-Pritchard.
B) Benjamin Whorf.
C) Edward Hall.
D) Leslie Sponsel.

Question 15

Shona speakers have only three names for the colors of the rainbow.This means that

A) they visually perceive only three colors.
B) their language groups several colors into one term.
C) they have a genetic defect for color vision.
D) they only describe colors as warm, cool, and neutral.

Question 16

Even critics of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis acknowledge that it may have validity in the area of

A) cultural vocabulary structuring reality.
B) language forcing a worldview on its speakers.
C) different language usage between socioeconomic classes.
D) verb usage and grammatical structure.

Question 17

In the United States, the subsystem of English known as "African-American Vernacular English" (AAVE) appears to have come from what speech sources?

A) White Southern and African tribal speech.
B) White Southern and Creole.
C) African tribal and Creole.
D) African tribal and hip hop.

Question 18

The use of "African-American Vernacular English" (AAVE) functions to

A) separate ethnic groups.
B) establishes class membership.
C) establishes solidarity between speakers.
D) marks social stratification.

Question 19

Chimpanzees are not considered to have language because their communication system is

A) open but lacks creative change.
B) open but lacks syntax.
C) closed and lacks recursion.
D) closed and lacks calls.

Question 20

In their natural habitat chimpanzees communicate using

A) open systems that include displacement.
B) displacement within a closed system of calls.
C) symbolic communication including American Sign Language (ASL).
D) closed call systems.

Question 21

Research on chimpanzees in the wild shows that

A) new elements appear in their call systems.
B) displacement is evident.
C) traditions of non-verbal communication vary between populations.
D) non-verbal communication gestures are inborn.

Question 22

Chomsky argues that

A) We are born with innate abilities to acquire language.
B) We are not born with innate language abilities.
C) Enculturation is primarily responsible for language acquisition.
D) Genetics and culture combine equally for us to acquire language.

Question 23

The analysis of cultural gestures, facial expressions, and body positions is called

A) kinesics.
B) displacement.
C) signing.
D) proxemics.

Question 24

Silent language can be one of the most difficult aspects of another culture to learn because it

A) is not shared by everyone in the community.
B) is not formally taught.
C) does not convey the same meaning as verbal communication.
D) causes ethnocentrism.

Question 25

The study of how people perceive and use space is called

A) ethnolinguistics.
B) sociolinguistics.
C) kinesics.
D) proxemics.

Question 26

Silent language, as part of a symbolic communication system, includes all of the following EXCEPT

A) gestures.
B) use of space.
C) artifacts such as clothing.
D) written words.

Question 27

The actual meaning of specific vocabulary words can be confusing to someone new to a cultural setting.Which of the following might confuse a recent immigrant to the United States?

A) "Call me tonight."
B) "Cross the street."
C) "Dress the chicken."
D) "Deliver the mail."

Question 28

An American business executive visiting Saudi Arabia calls a businessman to set up an appointment for 9:00 a.m.The Saudi would NOT consider himself late if he arrived around

A) 9:10
B) 9:15
C) 9:30
D) 9:45

Question 29

According to Edward T.Hall, the use of space in middle-class American culture is broken into which main distances in social relations and business?

A) private, personal, and public space
B) intimate, personal, social, and public
C) private, social, business, and personal
D) personal and business

Question 30

An American tourist put his arm around a Javanese child while speaking to him.This is an example of

A) kinesics.
B) proxemics.
C) syntax.
D) morphology.

Question 31

To describe how humans make the sounds of speech, linguists use descriptive terms such as all of the following EXCEPT

A) labiodental fricative (f).
B) glottal stop (ng).
C) bilabial stop (b).
D) cranial stop (c).

Question 32

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that

A) vocabulary structures one's reality.
B) environment structures one's reality.
C) experience structures one's reality.
D) culture structures one's reality.

Question 33

The work of the Pirahã language by Daniel Everett supports the hypothesis that

A) culture shapes language.
B) culture shapes reality.
C) biology (genetics) prepares humans for language.
D) biology and experiential learning shape culture.

Question 34

According to Daniel Everett, the Pirahã of Brazil's Amazon rain forest, do NOT have this key feature of language:

A) morphemes.
B) verb tenses.
C) recursive phrases.
D) syntax.

Question 35

Describe one of the following aspects of descriptive linguistics: phonology, morphology.

Question 36

Contrast a phoneme and a morpheme.

Question 37

What is a labiodental fricative?

Question 38

Explain what syntax is.

Question 39

Is one language more complex than another? Explain why or why not.

Question 40

Explain how displacement is a part of human symbolic communication.

Question 41

Contrast kinesics and proxemics.

Question 42

How are artifacts part of the system of symbolic communication?

Question 43

Discuss with specific examples how linguistic anthropologists describe a human language.

Question 44

Explain and evaluate the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Question 45

Compare and contrast human and chimpanzee communication.

Question 46

Discuss with examples how silent language is a part of culture.

Question 47

Discuss with examples how kinesics and proxemics are a part of culture.

Question 48

Explain how recursion defines human language.

Question 49

Discuss why knowledge of silent language is important if one is engaged in international business.Cite examples from the text, lectures, and other readings to support your discussion.

Question 50

Discuss how the work of Daniel Everett with the Pirahã language supports the hypothesis that culture shapes language.