Chapter 5 Language

Which language branch is most influential in southwestern Europe? a) Celtic b) romance c) Greek d) Germanic e) Albanian

b

Mandarin is part of what language branch? a) Nino-Saharan b) Tai-Kadai c) Sinitic d) Tibeto-Burman e) Xiang

C

According to the Anatolian hypothesis, which factor was responsible for the diffusion of Indo-European languages? a) plant domestication b) animal husbandry c) river travel d) nomadic herding e) warfare

a

Australia and New Zealand's language polices differ today in that Australia a) emphasizes the English language while New Zealand gives a lot of support to linguistic diversity b) was settled by English colonist but the original colonial language of New Zealand was French c) recognizes Maori as and official language where as New Zealand does not d) has virtually no indigenous language speakers remaining e) requires immigrants to take a dictation test whereas the New Zealand test is written

a

Following Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan, the third largest language family is a) Niger-Congo b) Austronesian c) Dravidian d) Afro-Asiatic e) Altaic

a

The diagrams in this chapter show that English is a part of which language branch? a) West Germanic b) Romance c) Balto-Slavic d) Semitic e) Northern Germanic

a

The four most frequently spoken branches of Indo-European included all but a) North Germanic b) Romance c) West Germanic d) Balto-Slavic e) Indo-Iranian

a

The large number of individual languages documented in Africa has resulted primarily from a) thousands of years of isolation between cultural groups b) repeated invasions by outsiders c) introduction of many different languages by the colonial powers d) frequent migration by the different tribal groups e) colonial administration of native lands

a

The main difference between languages in the same family, branch, or group is how a) recently in time languages were once the same b) closely the speakers of each language live to each other c) they correspond to the diffusion of free markets across much of the world d) similar to cultures of the speaker of each language are e) they all emerged at the same point in history, according to the bible

a

There are more than 1,000 languages identified in Africa. All of the following are reason s for the massive number of languages in Africa EXCEPT a) internal displacement of tribes and people due to European Imperialism and dominance in the continent b) small groups and tribes creating their own religion and cultural traditions c) minimal interaction among thousands of cultural groups separated by the lack of advanced transportation and communications d) a large number of intervening obstacles that provided barriers between tribes e) none of the above

a

This language family that provides the official language of two dozen countries in southwest Asia and North Africa is a) Afro- Asiatic b) Altaic c) Austro-Asiatic d) Uralic e) Niger-Congo

a

Which language branch is most influential in Northeastern Europe? a) Balto-Slavic b) Romance c) Indo-Iranian d) Russo-Slavic e) Armenian

a

Which of the following is a monolingual country a) Japan b) United States c) Switzerland d) France e) Israel

a

Which of the following language families is related to the Muslim and Judeo-Christian and religions? a) Afro- Asiatic b) Romance c) Indo-European d) Austro-Asiatic e) Austronesian

a

Which of the following regions is not dominated by Indo-European languages? a) Southeast Asia b) Europe c) South Asia d) North America e) South America

a

historically, the worlds major languages have spread by all of the following methods except a) Sanskrit records b) migration c) trade d) conquest e) expanding populations

a

A collection of languages related through a common ancestral language is considered a a) literary tradition. b) language family c) official language d) language branch e) logograms

b

Sino- Tibetan is most dominant in a) Northern Asia b) Southeast Asia c) East Asia d) Northwest Asia e) Central Asia

b

Sino-Tibetan languages have more than 100 million speakers in a) 3 continents b) 1 continent c) 4 continents d) 2 continents e) 5 continents

b

The images and maps in this chapter indicate that the percentage of JapanE language speakers in the world is greater than the percentage speaking __________ langauges a) Sino-Tibetan b) Austro-Asiatic c) Indo-European d) Niger-Congo e) Austronesian

b

The languages in China belong to which language branch a) Tibeto-Burman b) Sinitic c) Tai-Kabai d) Xiang e) Zhuang

b

The process by which the English language diffused throughout India under the British colonial rule was a) assimilation b) hierarchical diffusion c) expansion diffusion d) contagious diffusion e) stimulus diffusion

b

In the 1700s, 1800s, and afterward, English diffusion has been strongly related to colonialism and imperialism in many parts of the world because a) conquered populations refused to use English while colonial and imperial expansion was underway b) as imperial Russia and China expanded they used English as a lingua Franca in Asia c) conquered people wishing to participate in the new gov. and the increasingly global economy felt pressured to learn English d) people in conquered countries knew that in the distant future, English would become the main language associated with the exports of popular culture, such as Disney cartoons and Hollywood movies e) religious missionaries from every European country used English-language translations of the Bible

c

Indo-European languages have over 100 million speakers in a) 3 continents b) 5 continents c) 4 continents d) 6 continents e) 7 continents

c

Linguistic geographers use isoglosses to mark a) the creation of pidgins b) the extent to which a lingua Franca is used in a particular area c) the limits for an area in which particular words are used d) the area in which an official language is used e) the area in which an extinct language is used

c

Modern English has evolved primarily from the languages spoken by a) Indo-Iranians b) French, Italian, and Romanian c) Angles, Jutes, and Saxons d) Normans, Vikings, and Celts e) Romance-speaking European countries and Slavic-speaking people

c

The primary contributing factor to the origin and diffusion of English is a) Trade b) Technology c) Migration d) Expansion e) Folk Culture

c

When people who speak a given language migrate to a different location and become isolated from other members of their group? a) their language usually shows very little change even over the long period of time, despite the appearance of a small number of changes typical of different dialects b) they immediately develops a literary tradition c) isolation usually results in the differentiation of one language into dialects, followed eventually by two distinct languages d) they lose their linguistic abilities e) groups form multiple dialects

c

Which statement best describes the language diversity in Canada a) a status of tension and turmoil rooted in socio-economic divide b) a peaceful co-existence of multiple languages fostered by political representation c) a minority language surrounded by a dominant language that recognizes its cultural importance and allows bilingualism d) massive language diversity packed into a relatively small region resulting in political and regional conflicts e) a series of languages on the brink of extinction due to the widespread use of lingua Franca

c

Altaic languages became the official languages Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan as a result of a) increased trade between countries in Central Asia and the formation of new independent countries b) an effort to create new national identities in Central Asia to promote international recognition as a legitimate nation states c) an increase in communications and technology between eastern and Central Asia d) the fall of the Soviet Union and the revival of Altaic languages in newly independent countries e) none of the above

d

Suppose that the speakers of languages A, B, and C live close to one another and come into contact fairly regularly. A fourth language, D, takes elements from A, B, and C facilitate communications among the groups. D might be considered a a) creole language b) lingua Franca c) dialect d) pidgin language e) official language

d

The two most important languages in South America are a) Dutch and English b) English and Spanish c) French and Spanish d) Portuguese and Spanish e) Creole and Portuguese

d

What do Korean, Japanese, Austro-Asiatic, and Austronesian have in common? a) they are all official languages of countries b) they are all language groups c) they all face possible extinction due to isolation d) they are widely spoken through East and North West Asia e) they are all language families

d

Which area of American settlement was the most culturally diverse, resulting in diverse language base? a) New England b) Midwestern c) Southeastern d) Midlands e) Southern

d

Which language family contains Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian? a) European b) Slavic c) Germanic d) Romance e) Celtic

d

Which of the following is NOT part of the Indo-European language family? a) west Germanic b) Balto-Slavic c) Indo-Iranian d) Afro-Asiatic e) Indo-Aryan

d

Which statement best describes the language diversity in Nigeria a) A status of tension and turmoil rooted in socio-economic divide b) a peaceful co-existence of multiple languages fostered by political representation c) a minority language surrounded by a dominant language that recognizes its cultural importance and allows bilingualism d) massive language diversity packed into a relatively small region resulting in political and regional conflicts e) a series of languages on the brink of extinction due to the widespread use of lingua Franca

d

in the following answer choices, the best example of literary tradition is a) the diffusion of television and radio broadcasts b) the religious rituals and traditions of ancient European civilizations c) the oral traditions of Australia's Aborigines that were passed down from generation to generation without the aid of writing d) the historical documents and religious texts of the ancient maya that were partly destroyed by Spanish conquerors e) the variety of dialects in a language used in obscure examples of spoken poetry

d

The two largest language families India are a) Hindi and Sino Tibetan b) Sino Tibetan and Asiatic c) Dravidian and Asiatic d) Hindi and Asiatic e) Dravidian and Hindi

e

Variations in vocabulary, pronunciation, and rhythm in a spoken language are called a) syntax b) isoglosses c) lingua Franca d) Creoles e) dialects

e

Which language branch is the most influential in northwestern Europe? a) Balto-Slavic b) Celtic c) Romance d) Greek e) Germanic

e

Which statement is NOT true of a language? a) primates and other higher-order species have language systems as complicated and expensive as human language b) if is the most common variable by which different cultural groups assert their unique identity c) it is the main means by which learned belief systems and customs pass from one generation to the next d) most cultural groups have their own distinctive form of speech, either a separate language or dialect e) all of the above are true

e