The characters used in L337 speak are all semantic characters.
True
False
In contrast to linguistic anthropology, the primary focus of theoretical linguistics is on
form and structure, with little or no attention to the social contexts in which language is
used.
True
False
There are no minimal pairs in American Sign Language.
True
False
Written words are, by nature, permanent; spoken words (and oral histories) are, by
nature, impermanent.
True
False
Learning about other languages and cultures can help you to better understand your
own language and culture, as well as how they work and influence you.
True
False
According to Hickey and Thompson, the invisible bubble that surrounds the modern
cowboy is oversized by “typical” American standards.
True
False
Traditional transmission is a design feature of language that has only been observed in
humans.
True
False
In cases of non-accomodating bilingualism, speakers of one language cannot
understand anything that speakers of the other language say..
True
False
Whether or not a group of people “has” writing is always clear-cut and undisputed.
True
False
A protolanguage is a language that more closely corresponds to the deep structures in
the brain.
True
False
The languages and dialects you understand can identify you almost as much as the ones
that you speak.
True
False
The arrangement of symbols on the IPA chart is a random order agreed upon by
linguists.
True
False
The choice of writing system often has political implications.
True
False
Signing is controlled in a different area of the brain than spoken language.
True
False
Dictionaries always list lexemes in terms of phonetic graphemes.
True
False
Sign language never has its own grammar. Instead its grammar is copied from whatever
spoken language it is modeled after. Example: ASL uses English grammar.
True
False
Deep structure, in a generative grammar, refers to the underlying grammar that allows
people to produce sentences, while surface structure refers to the actual sentences that
are produced in a language.
True
False
Languages and dialects are more accurately described as flexible collections of
linguistic practice rather than concrete unchanging entities
True
False
Internal change tends to be more slow and predictable than external change in language.
True
False
Knowing the rules of complementary distribution of allophones in a language can be a
useful tool for understanding and predicting the kinds of accents its speakers will have
when speaking other languages.
True
False
The Mayan writing system was wholly logographic, representing only numbers, dates,
and place-names.
True
False
One of the most productive ways to learn the syntax of a language that is new to you is
to identify the kinds of ‘substitution frames” used by that language.
True
False
Grammatical gender in a language is the same thing as social gender.
True
False
“Proto-World” is a highly developed reconstructed protolanguage.
True
False
The languages and dialects you understand can identify you almost as much as the ones
that you speak.
True
False
Knowing something about substitution frames in a language helps you to learn about
the kinds of grammatical categories that exist in that language.
True
False
In cases of non-accomodating bilingualism, speakers of one language cannot
understand anything that speakers of the other language say..
True
False
While research into brain functioning suggests that language might have been possible
as early as 2 million years ago, fully modern speech may not have been possible until
100,000 years ago, in Homo sapiens, due to the importance of lowered larynx
positioning.
True
False
A protolanguage is a language that more closely corresponds to the deep structures in
the brain.
True
False
The study of archaeology is interesting but not useful for a linguistic anthropologist.
True
False
The units of analysis in phonetics are phonemes, and the units of analysis in phonemics
are phones.
True
False
While kinemorph used to refer to a meaningful unit of visual expression, over time the
term was abandoned and replaced with kineme, which is now used to mean both a
minimal unit of visual expression and a meaningful unit of visual expression.
True
False
Grammatical categories in a language are helpful to anthropologists because of what
those categories may reflect about the thought processes of those who use them.
True
False
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.
True
False
A bilabial click is pronounced by releasing air inward, rather than outward.
True
False
Kinesic systems do not evolve and change over time like language.
True
False
According to the autonomous theory of literacy, it is through mastering the technology
of literacy that one develops skepticism, abstractness, and critical thinking skills.
True
False
In the United States, the amount of personal space one can command, and one’s ability
to enter into someone else’s space, are most related to one’s:
a. gender.
b. age.
c. birth order.
d. relative status.
The type of tree diagram associated with generative grammar is ideal for
a. illustrating the contrasting meanings of an ambiguous sentence.
b. helping students become proficient communicators in a new language.
c. demonstrating beyond all doubt the existence of a Language Acquisition Device.
d. supporting the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
The K of Dell Hymes’ S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G mnemonic refers to the mood or spirit in
which communication takes place. This is called the:
a. key.
b. kinesics.
c. kiosk.
d. knowledge.
When the vocal cords are close together and vibrating, the sound produced is called:
a) voiceless.
b) voiced.
c) articulated.
d) vibratory.
The term for a speech sound made by lowering the velum and resonating air in your
nasal cavity is
a) trill.
b) affricate.
c) fricative.
d) nasal.
“Approximant” on the IPA describes
a) a manner of articulation.
b) the fact that linguists can only approximately describe the sounds of language.
c) a sort of reduplication.
d) a place of articulation.
The area above the vocal cords where sound waves take on distinctive shapes and
become recognizable speech sounds is called
a) the epiglottis.
b) the supralaryngeal vocal tract.
c) uvular.
d) retroflex.
The E of Dell Hymes’ S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G mnemonic refers to:
a. events.
b. ends.
c. efforts.
d. elements.
When Ottenheimer tried to understand the difference between n u “hermit crab” and ntuʈ
“arrow” in Shinzwani, the most important information she gathered had to do with
a) the complementary distribution of allophones for the phoneme [ ].ʈ
b) a difference in the place of articulation of a consonant.
c) the rounding or unrounding of the lips in producing a the vowel [u].
d) a difference in manner of articulation of a consonant.
When English-speaking children produce “incorrect” forms such as ‘sheeps,” “gooses,”
and “taked,” they are:
a. discovering and using grammatical regularities in their language.
b. reflecting universal grammatical patterns.
c. reflecting ancient forms of language.
d. holding out for rewards.
The technical term for the variants of a phoneme is:
a) phone.
b) allophone.
c) allograph
d) allomorph.
Because of their different languages, English speakers tend to group objects in terms of
common material, while Yucatec speakers tend to group items in terms of common
shape.
a. True
b. False
Knowing how to write
a. has been shown to have no effect on perception of language.
b. has very little political value in the 21st century.
c. is certainly key to developing abstract thought and skepticism.
d. may influence the way we think about language.
The area where the vocal cords modify the air, creating sound waves, is called
a) the larynx.
b) the uvula.
c) the epiglottis.
d) Fred.
The English-only laws that were passed in the early 1900s in Nebraska were primarily
intended to suppress the use of which language?
a. Spanish
c. Omaha
c. Yiddish
d. German
Different frames applied to very similar actions can result in dramatically different
interpretations of those actions.
a. true
b. false
Refusing dessert on the first offer, and assuming that there will be a second or even a
third offer, is
a. an intentional strategy for losing weight.
b. an example of an indirect “yes”.
c. universally recognized rude behavior, since it requires the person offering the dessert
to read your mind.
d. something that only happens in textbooks, not in real life.
Boas argued that you could only really understand another cultural system by:
a. visiting occasionally, staying for at least a week each time you visit.
b. engaging in lots of rituals and ceremonies.
c. focusing your collection on myths, folktales, and children’s rhymes.
d. learning and speaking the language you are living with.
Linguists influenced by Chomsky’s transformational/generative grammar approach tend
to rely on introspection as an important way to gather and check the grammaticality of
their data.
True
False
The technical term for the smallest unit of meaning in a language is:
a. phoneme.
b. allophone.
c. allomorph.
d. morpheme.
Gathering information from many cultures, times and places, including our own,
reflects the _____________ nature of anthropology.
a. fieldwork based
b. comparative
c. holistic
d. historical
Research indicates that creoles
a. are created by elders who are skilled language users.
b. are developed by teachers applying dominant grammar to the pidgin.
c. may be related to the 10th century pidgin Sabir
d. demonstrate clearly the absence of anything like a Universal Grammar
The term used to refer to the fact that every language has a specific order in which
affixes are attached is:
a. morphing rules.
b. inflection.
c. hierarchy.
d. derivation.
A word related to another by descent from the same ancestral language is called a(n):
a. agnate.
b. cognate.
c. correlate.
d. calque
The aspect of sign language which is most like the vowels of spoken language is
a. dez.
b. tab.
c. sig.
d. facial expression.
Recent research into brain evolution and development indicates that:
a. brain neurons “learn” and become specialized as they develop.
b. brain neurons become fully formed three months after birth.
c. Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas do not develop until adolescence.
d. Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas are less relevant for human language than
previously thought.
The four subfields of anthropology are
a. physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology and
archaeology
b. comparative anthropology, holistic anthropology, theoretical anthropology and
fieldwork
c. Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas
d. intrinsic, holistic, integrated and universal.
Which of the following are most easily borrowed between languages?
a. words
b. sounds
c. grammatical forms
d. phonemes
The fact that different languages divide and name the colors in a rainbow differently is
an example of:
a) linguistic determinism.
b) linguistic relativity.
c) ethnosemantics.
d) cultural emphasis.
In a syllabary, each symbol is expected to stand for a distinct:
a. consonant.
b. vowel.
c. syllable.
d. concept.
The angle brackets <> placed around a word indicate that
a. a writing system and not a phonetic transcription system is in use.
b. this is a case of phonetic transcription using the IPA.
c. allophone rules may be disregarded in pronouncing this word.
d. the word in question is a lexeme.
The design feature of language that refers to the fact that a speaker can repeat anything
that any other human says is:
a. vocal auditory channel.
b. broadcast transmission and directional reception.
c. interchangeability.
d. total feedback.
For the anthropologist, who needs to learn and use a language in the field, the most
useful approach to language learning is:
a. generative grammar.
b. descriptive grammar.
c. introspective research .
d. Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device.