Deck 5: Language

Question 1

Glottochronology is the study of the interrelationships among the vocal tract, glottis, larynx, and pharynx in the production of sound.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, time is perceived the same way in all cultures.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

More than 70,000 languages are known to have existed.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The concept of arbitrariness refers to the symbolic nature of words used in human language.

Question 5

Semantics is the study of the meaning of symbols, words, phrases, and sentences in a language.

Question 6

Most anthropologists maintain that language influences a person's thinking and worldview, but language does not determine thought.

Question 7

Research has concluded that language, as we know it, appeared only within the last 10,000 years and is associated with the development of agriculture and the domestication of animals.

Question 8

According to Herbert Terrace's research, chimpanzees are highly intelligent animals that can learn many signs, but cannot understand syntax.

Question 9

Language is a system of symbols with standard meanings.

Question 10

It has been suggested that major cultural advances, cultural evolution, and human creativity could not have occurred before adequate language ability evolved.

Question 11

Sociolinguists have found that societies that maintain social inequalities and hierarchies often have different forms of the same language that are used for addressing higher or lower status individuals, kin versus nonkin, and males versus females.

Question 12

Nonverbal communication consisting of body motions and gestures is called kinesics.

Question 13

At the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center at Emory University a chimpanzee named Lana was taught to communicate through a color-coded computer keyboard.

Question 14

Both animals and humans are able to communicate about things or events that are not immediately present.

Question 15

Linguistic anthropologists study phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

Question 16

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is an example of linguistic relativism because it maintains that the world is experienced differently among different language communities.

Question 17

Chimpanzees and gorillas have been taught to speak up to 100 English sentences so they can communicate their daily needs as well as humans.

Question 18

Linguistic variations within a single language such as differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, or syntax are termed dialects.

Question 19

Anthropologists use the ethnosemantic approach to study how different societies understand and classify everyday objects like animals, plants, and food.

Question 20

Phonology is the study of morphemes, the smallest units of a language that convey meaning.

Question 21

The gorilla named "Koko" was able to __________.

A) speak and communicate by using over 100 English words
B) learn to program a computer using the computer language called FORTRAN
C) communicate using about 1,000 signs from American Sign Language (ASL)
D) write her own name and verbally communicate her needs to humans

Question 22

When trying to understand the ethnosemantics of kinship terminology systems, anthropologists look at which of the following?

A) contrasts between male and female terms as well as generational distinctions
B) the ability of infants to produce basic sounds like "ma-ma"
C) the degree to which people understand biological inheritance
D) the emotional connotations of certain sounds and how they are combined to form words

Question 23

__________ are used in societies that maintain marked social hierarchies.

A) Slang
B) Honorifics
C) Pidgins
D) Proxemics

Question 24

The goal of ethnosemantics is to understand __________.

A) that reality is inherently unorganized and can be perceived in any way; thus color naming, plant classification, and time categories are completely arbitrary
B) the meanings of words, phrases, and sentences and how members of different societies use language to organize things, events, and behaviors
C) that languages and behavior are the same
D) that classification systems in all societies are random

Question 25

Sign language acquisition in primates has been criticized on the basis that __________.

A) the signs were just imitative, were often random combinations, and did not involve a two-way conversation
B) chimpanzees and gorillas are not smart enough to learn sign language
C) chimpanzee and gorilla hands are not really capable of making most signs in ASL
D) primates already have a communication system, so they cannot learn another one

Question 26

The ability to build an infinite number of sentences within sentences is known as __________.

A) proxemics
B) recursion
C) dynamics
D) semantics

Question 27

Scientists who study the behavior of animals in their natural setting are called __________.

A) behaviorists
B) naturalists
C) eco-researchers
D) ethologists

Question 28

A unit of sound that distinguishes meaning in a particular language is a __________.

A) dialect
B) phoneme
C) morpheme
D) syntax

Question 29

The flexibility of human language and the ability to create new sentences are associated with the feature of __________.

A) productivity
B) displacement
C) arbitrariness
D) proxemics

Question 30

The word "lower" contains __________.

A) two bound morphemes
B) two bound phonemes
C) two free morphemes
D) one bound morpheme and one free morpheme

Question 31

The words "boy" and "girl" are __________.

A) bound phonemes
B) bound morphemes
C) free morphemes
D) bound phones

Question 32

Consider the following English words that are similar except for the beginning sound: cat and rat. The /c/ and the /r/ are called __________.

A) morphemes
B) phonemes
C) syntaxes
D) semantics

Question 33

What is "displacement" with respect to human language?

A) the ability to create symbolic forms
B) the moral precept that keeps humans from lying and making False promises
C) the fleeting nature of sound as a carrying system for communication
D) the ability to refer to things, persons, and events removed in time and space

Question 34

John Lucy's research on the relationship among thought, language, and behavior showed that __________.

A) kinship terminology is tied to a perception of familial closeness
B) Hopi and English speakers had different perspectives on the passage of time
C) grammar affected the way Mayan and English speakers sorted objects
D) gender-biased terms reflect social categories

Question 35

One goal of anthropological linguistics is to determine the number of phonemes that exist in different languages. This goal is accomplished by examining the use of __________.

A) minimal pairs
B) phone taps
C) maximal differences
D) syntax units

Question 36

Ann Senghas's research with deaf children in Nicaragua supported the idea that __________.

A) sign languages are less complex than spoken languages
B) there is a critical developmental stage for acquiring the rules of language
C) sign languages are universal
D) spoken language evolved from primitive gestural forms of communication

Question 37

An example of a bound morpheme in English is __________.

A) the phrase "boys will be boys"
B) the word "boys"
C) the word "boy"
D) the "s" in the word "boys"

Question 38

Jane Goodall observed that chimpanzees in the wild communicate through __________.

A) a gestural sign language
B) vocalizations tied directly to emotional states
C) random vocalizations and body language
D) singing

Question 39

According to some linguistic researchers, how did Ebonics originate?

A) through lack of proper education
B) from a slang dialect of formal American English
C) as a creole language during slavery in the United States
D) as trade language between Africa and Europe

Question 40

Why are mirror neurons likely to have played a role in the evolution of human language?

A) They enabled early hominins to master a sense of self.
B) They link intention with the sending and receiving of messages.
C) They translate thoughts through the production of sounds.
D) They cause growth in the areas of the brain associated with call systems.

Question 41

Attempts to change linguistic habits such as the adoption of more neutral terms such as firefighter, police officer, and first-year student to replace gender-biased ones such as fireman, policeman, and freshman are based on __________.

A) the idea that language influences social perceptions and gender relations
B) the fact that the deep structure of language, as proposed by Noam Chomsky, is like a fluid sea that can be molded easily to fit social reality
C) False premises about the surface structure of language and the role of gender in society
D) the theory of glottochronology of gender as proposed by Morris Swadesh

Question 42

Does language influence social perceptions? In answering this question, examine such things as the conscious attempts to change what is perceived by many to be "gender-biased" language (terms such as fireman, policeman, Mrs., Miss, freshman, mankind). Also, do you think these attempts to change language will succeed, or are English speakers too set in their ways to change?

Question 43

How do animal communication systems differ from human language and communication systems? Explain the features of human language that differentiate it from other forms of communication.

Question 44

The ability to reconstruct a protolanguage is based on __________.

A) the theory that a universal grammar underlies all human languages
B) the idea that all languages are derived from a single parent language
C) the ability of children to learn whatever language is spoken around them
D) the assumption that languages change in regular ways over time

Question 45

Linguistic anthropologists find that people who are forced to abandon their native language and culture will __________.

A) begin to lose their self-esteem
B) eventually adopt English as their primary spoken language
C) advance socially and economically
D) regain their native language in subsequent generations

Question 46

Would it be possible to have a culture without a language? Discuss two theories about how language and culture evolved along with the human species.

Question 47

What have laboratory studies with nonhuman primates taught us about the capacity for language? How does laboratory communication differ from animal communication in the wild? What are some of the criticisms faced by researchers in this field?

Question 48

One example of proxemics is that __________.

A) Americans stand about 18 inches away when talking with people they know well
B) basic facial expressions are recognized universally
C) in Greece, people nod their heads to indicate "no"
D) making a "V" shape with your fingers has had different meanings in different times and places

Question 49

How is language acquired? What evidence is there for an innate, universal grammar? Draw on at least two examples mentioned in your text.

Question 50

Glottochronology is based on the idea that __________.

A) core vocabulary stays consistent irrespective of culture change
B) by tracing population movements researchers can determine the start date of any language
C) number words and pronouns change frequently in most languages
D) sound systems have regional affiliations

Question 51

How do linguists understand language from the level of sound systems through that of words, grammar, and meaning? Illustrate each level of analysis with an example.

Question 52

A linguistic anthropologist interested in understanding what people convey through smiles in different cultures would be interested in the study of __________.

A) semantics
B) proxemics
C) phonemics
D) kinesics

Question 53

"Did I hear you say that there are four pounds of sulfur in the box?" versus "Did I heah ya say that there are foah pounds of sulfuh in the box?" is an example of __________.

A) correct and incorrect English
B) dialect differences in English
C) how grammar and syntax interact
D) the difference between syntax and semantics

Question 54

What kind of information do people communicate nonverbally? What are some examples of behaviors that researchers interested in kinesics and proxemics would study? Why is it important to consider these forms of communication?

Question 55

__________ lends support to Chomsky's model of language acquisition.

A) The way apes learn sign language
B) The structure of creole and pidgin languages
C) The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
D) The displacement feature of human language

Question 56

How do variations in language relate to social hierarchies? Compare and contrast two examples from sociolinguistics that illustrate the relationship between language use and social standing.

Question 57

What is African-American Vernacular English? How did it emerge? How is it related to pidgin and creole languages? Discuss the controversies surrounding AAVE.

Question 58

How do anthropologists understand linguistic change? What factors create change in a language? How is this measured? What can historical linguistics tell us about how languages evolve? Discuss glottochronology and the concept of protolanguages in your answer.

Question 59

The idea that each language filters certain perceptions and determines how we perceive reality is called __________.

A) Chomsky's relative grammar
B) the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
C) the linguistic filter theory
D) weak linguistic determinism

Question 60

Noam Chomsky suggests that humans are born with a brain prewired to enable us to acquire languages easily. This "prewiring" is referred to as __________.

A) syntax
B) universal grammar
C) infinite model
D) functional template