LING 110 Ch 2: Linguistic Change & Structure of Language

Question 1

OE is set during which period?

Answer 1

450 CE - 1100 CE

Question 2

What happened in 450 CE?

Answer 2

The Romans left Britannia to defend Rome against the Huns & the Goths.

Question 3

A “gloss” is a [______].

Answer 3

A “gloss” is a [translation].

Question 4

The ‘a’ in dēma indicates [______ ______]. It marks or indicates the [______].

Answer 4

The ‘a’ in dēma indicates [nominative case]. It is a [subject] marker.

Question 5

Languages that use case have [______ ______] word order.

Answer 5

Languages that use case have [relatively free] word order.

Question 6

What are 3 differences between OE and CE?

1.
2.
3.

Answer 6

1. word order, e.g. in OE the verb was always at end of sentence…
2. word structure
3. written symbols

Question 7

ME is set during which period?

Answer 7

1100 CE - 1500 CE

1066 (Norman invasion of Britain) to 1476

Question 8

House of Fame was written by [______] in [______ - ______].

Answer 8

House of Fame was written by [Chaucer] in [1379-1380].

Soune ys noght but eyre ybroken
And every spech that ys yspoken,
Lowde or pryvee, foule or faire,
In his substaunce ys but ire

Question 9

The word “orthography” means [______ or ______]. It’s composed of [______] meaning [______] + [______] meaning [______].

Answer 9

The word “orthography” means [writing or spelling]. It’s composed of [orthos(s)] meaning [straight/correct] + [graphia] meaning [writing].

Question 10

A “syllabary” is [______ … ]?

Answer 10

A “syllabary” is [a writing system that uses symbols to represent syllables].

Question 11

A syllabary is only useful for languages with [______ … ] because [______ … ].

Answer 11

A syllabary is only useful for languages with [constraints on the number of syllables] because [otherwise there are too many symbols and it becomes too complex].

Question 12

An “ideograph” is [______ … ].

Answer 12

An “ideograph” is [a picture or symbol that represents a thing or idea].

Question 13

Which 3 written characters were lost in OE orthography?

1.
2.
3.

Answer 13

1. ash [æ]
2. thorn [like a p with | on the left side]
3. edh [the voiced version of ‘th’]

Question 14

The term “phonetics” refers to the [______ and ______ ______] of [______ ______].

Answer 14

The term “phonetics” refers to [the study and systematic classification of speech sounds].

Question 15

The term “phonology” refers to the [______] of [______ ______] especially the [______ and ______] of [______ ______] in a language or two or more related languages.

Answer 15

The term “phonology” refers to [the science of speech sounds especially the history and theory of sound changes in a language or two or more related languages].

Question 16

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) assigns [______ … ].

A “diacritic” is [______ … ].

Answer 16

The IPA assigns [a single symbol to every speech sound].

A “diacritic” is [a symbol that guides pronunciation rather]. e.g. ‘~’ can mean ‘nasalization’ or ‘ç’ means pronounce as ‘s’.

Question 17

We describe vowels using 3 descriptors:

1. [______]
2. [______ or ______]
3. [______]

Answer 17

We describe vowels using 3 descriptors:

1. [height] high, mid, low, that is, how close to the top of bottom of the mouth
2. [tenseness or laxness]
3. [placement] front, middle, back, that is, how close to the front or back of the oral cavity

Question 18

What are the 5 front vowels?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What is the front diphthong?

6.

Answer 18

1. beet [i], orthographic i
2. bit, [I], small cap i
3. bait, [e], orthographic e
4. bet, [ɛ], epsilon
5. bat, [æ]
6. buy, [ay]

Question 19

What is the middle unstressed vowel called?

Answer 19

about, [_], swcha

Question 20

What are the 5 back vowels?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What are the two back diphthongs?

6.
7.

Answer 20

1. boot, [u], orthographic u
2. book, [_], upsilon
3. boat, [o], orthographic o
4. board, [_], “open o”
5. bought [a], orthographic a
6. boy, [oy]
7. bow, [aw]

Question 21

What is the generalization rule concerning vowel raising from OE to CE?

Answer 21

The rule is “long mid vowels raised to high tense vowels”

Question 22

Give two examples of the vowel raising from OE to CE, i.e. “long mid vowels raised to high tense vowels”.

1.
2.

Answer 22

1. [ē] > [i] … e.g.: dēma > deem…
   bēte > beet… sēcan > seek…
   mētan > meet… cēpan > keep
2. [ō] > [u] … e.g.: rōt > root
   hrōf > roof… mōd > mood

Question 23

The term “morphology” means the [______ and ______] of word [______]. It’s composed of [______] meaning [______] + [______] meaning [______].

Answer 23

The term “morphology” means [the study and description of word formation]. It’s composed of [morphe] meaning [shape] and [logos] meaning [study].

Question 24

The inflected forms “ybroken” and “yspoken” are from which period of English?

Answer 24

ME, Chaucer

Question 25

The "y" replaced [______] which was an earlier form used to create the [______ ______].

Answer 25

The "y" replaced [ge] which was an earlier form used to create the [past participle].

Question 26

The 6 inflections for verbs in English are: ``` 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. ```

Answer 26

The 6 inflections for verbs in English are: 1. the infinitive 2. 3rd singular present tense 3. non-3rd singular present tense 4. present participle 5. past tense 6. past participle

Question 27

Inflection changes [______ ______] of a [______] but not its [______].

Answer 27

Inflection changes the [grammatical function] of a [lexeme] but not it's [meaning].

Question 28

Inflection only occurs after [______].

Answer 28

Inflection only occurs after [derivation].

Question 29

CE has a lot of inflection: True or False?

Answer 29

False Languages like Russian, Finnish, Hungarian all have lots of inflection.

Question 30

The term "lexicon" means the [______ of ______] that make up the [______ of a ______].

Answer 30

The term "lexicon" means the [set of words] that make up the [vocabulary of a language].

Question 31

The lexicon is fixed and does not change because it is unaffected by environment. True or False?

Answer 31

False. The lexicon changes precisely because it is sensitive to the environment.

Question 32

The term "syntax" refers to how [______] fit together to form [______ and ______].

Answer 32

The term "syntax" refers to how [words] fit together to form [phrases and sentences].

Question 33

The term "semantics" refers to [______].

Answer 33

The term "semantics" refers to [meaning).

Question 34

Is meaning fixed or fluid? Explain with 2 examples.

Answer 34

Meaning is not fixed, it can expand or narrow. e. g.: "corn" used to mean "any kind of grain", it has now narrowed to mean "a specific New World grain". e. g.: "quarantine" used to mean "isolate for 40 days" but has expanded to mean "isolate".

Question 35

The structure of old words can be obscured by: 1. 2.

Answer 35

The structure of old words can be obscured by: 1. pronunciation, i.e. phonetic changes 2. word-building, i.e. morphological processes

Question 36

The term "dialect" refers to a [______ ______] of a ______] that is specific to a [______ ______] or [______ ______].

Answer 36

The term "dialect" refers to a [particular form of a language] that's specific to a [geographical region] or [social group].

Question 37

Dialects are created through [______ ______] over ______] that [______ one ______ from ______].

Answer 37

Dialects are created through [small changes over time] that [differentiate one group from another].

Question 38

An example of two dialects that are both English but are mutually unintelligible is [______ ______ and ______ ______].

Answer 38

[Glaswegian English and Canadian English]

Question 39

An example of two "discrete" languages that are mutually intelligible is: [______ and ______]. These are dialects.

Answer 39

[Danish and German]

Question 40

Languages change to enhance [______ ______].

Answer 40

Languages change to enhance [group cohesion].

Question 41

Dialects are hard to fake consistently. True of False?

Answer 41

True

Question 42

Within a dialectical group there can exist [______].

Answer 42

Within a dialectical group there can exist [subgroups].

Question 43

Dialects can differ in 3 main ways: 1. 2. 3.

Answer 43

1. pronunciation (phonetics) 2. vocabulary (lexicon), e.g "elevator" vs. "lift") 3. meaning (semantics), e.g. "chesterfield")

Question 44

In Fiji, there are [______] dialects among only [______] speakers.

Answer 44

In Fiji, there are [350] dialects among only [400,000] speakers.

Question 45

Dialects are [______] based.

Answer 45

Dialects are [village] based.

Question 46

The biggest driver of change in language comes from [______].

Answer 46

[adolescents]