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Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 14
14.1 Language Origins
Research the language origin stories of a culture other than your own. What do the stories about
where language comes from tell us about the culture itself and about language? Some to consider
are the myths of Bantu, Hindu, Ancient Greek, or Aztec cultures.
Answers will vary.
14.2 Cape York Creole Pronouns
Consider the following data illustrating some aspects of the pronominal system of Cape York Creole,
an English-based creole spoken in Australia. Using these data to illustrate your point, present an
argument to someone who claims that this creole is just bad English.
dual and plural, 2nd and 3rd persons
dual, 2nd person yutu (pela)
dual and plural pronouns, 1st person
dual, inclusive yumi, yumtu (speaker plus one addressee)
14.3 Creole Transitivity Markers
Many unrelated creoles have a grammatical marker for transitivity (marked TRN below); that is, if a
verb is transitive, the transitive morpheme must be attached. Consider the transitivity markers in the
following languages.
Solomons Pidgin
luk ‘look’
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Mi no luk-im pikipiki bulong iu
I no see (TRN) pigs belong you
‘I didn’t see your pigs.’
And the same sentence is ungrammatical if the transitivity marker is not attached:
*Mi no luk pikipiki bulong iu.
Kwaio (an Oceanic creole language)
aga ‘look’
Conduct some research to find another creole language that uses a transitivity marker. Illustrate with
examples. Then, using these data, construct an argument for someone who claims that creoles are
simplified and/or illogical versions of a more standardized language. (Data from Keesing, 1988: 119)
14.4 Latin Lives On
Look up the following Latin words and phrases, and determine original Latin meanings of at least
six. Have the meanings changed, or do they hold their original meanings in Present-Day English?
ad infinitum, alter ego, alumni, A.D. (anno Domini), bona fide, circa, de facto, e.g. (exempli
gratia), ergo, extant, facsimile, in vitro, inter alia, m.o. (modus operandi), nota bene (n.b.), per
capita, per se, post mortem, pro bono, pro forma, quorum, re, sic, status quo, subpoena, tabula
rasa, terra firma, veto, vice versa
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e.g. (exempli gratia) – for example
contemporary: for example
ergo – Latin ‘from the direction of’
contemporary: therefore, hence
extant – Latin ‘to stand out, be in existence’
contemporary: currently or actually existing
facsimile – Latin ‘make similar’
contemporary: an exact copy
in vitro – New Latin ‘in glass’
contemporary: outside the living body and in an artificial environment
per se – Latin ‘by itself’
contemporary: by itself, intrinsically
post mortem – Latin ‘after death’
contemporary: after death, can also mean ‘following the event’
pro bono – Latin ‘for the good’
contemporary: doing professional and especially legal work donated especially for the
public good
pro forma – Latin ‘for form’
contemporary: made or carried out in a perfunctory manner or as a formality
126 • PART 2 Answer Key
quorum – Latin ‘of whom’; quorom of justices of the peace, from the genitive plural of
qui ‘who’; comes from the wording of the commission formerly issued to justices of the
peace
contemporary: the number of officers or members of a body that when assembled is
legally competent to transact business
re – Latin ‘back, again, against’
contemporary: again: anew; back: backward
tabula rasa – Latin ‘erased tablet’
contemporary: the mind in its hypothetical primary blank or empty state before
receiving outside impressions
terra firma – Latin ‘solid land’
contemporary: dry land, solid ground
14.5 Language Death
Using Ethnologue (http://www.ethnologue.org) and other sources, conduct some research to dis-
cover at least five languages that have fewer than one hundred speakers and therefore may soon be
extinct. Determine which language has replaced the endangered language. What factors led to that
replacement? Summarize your findings.
14.6 English-Only Laws
Many websites are devoted to the pros and cons of the English Only/Official English movement
(some are listed here). Research the pros and cons of the English Only movement. What are the
central arguments for each position? Which arguments are supported by statistics and research, and
which are based on social attitudes about language and national identity? Where do you stand on
this issue and why?
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U.S. English: http://www.us-english.org
James Crawford’s website: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jWCRAWFORD/
engonly.htm
English First: http://www.englishfirst.org/
English Plus: http://www.massenglishplus.org/mep/engplus.html
Pro-English: http://www.proenglish.org/notenglishonly.html
Center for Applied Linguistics: http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/lewell01.html
Linguistic Society of America Resolution, drafted by Geoff Nunberg:
http://www.lsadc.org/info/lsa-res-english.cfm
14.7 English as a Second Language
Using Ethnologue (http://www.ethnologue.org) and other sources, conduct some research to dis-
cover at least five countries in which English is an official language but is not a native language of
most speakers. Determine, if you can, what factors have led to the prominence of English in these
countries.
Answers will vary, but instructors may want to offer students a list of places to get