Chapter 5: Language

A group of languages that share a common ancestor before recorded history is a A) dialect. B) language branch. C) language family. D) language group. E) language root.

C) language family.

Basque is spoken primarily in A) Brittany. B) the Swiss Alps. C) the Pyrenees Mountains. D) Barcelona, Spain. E) Liechtenstein.

C) the Pyrenees Mountains.

The Kurgans A.) conquered much of East Asia several thousand years ago. B.) were a Germanic tribe that invaded England. C.) were horse and cattle herders from the grassland steppes of present-day Russia and Kazakhstan. D.) preserved Basque in present-day Spain. E.) were the earliest speakers of Sino-Caucasian

C.) were horse and cattle herders from the grassland steppes of present-day Russia and Kazakhstan.

The most widely spoken language in Brazil is A) Creole. B) French. C) Portuguese. D) Spanish. E) Catalan.

C) Portuguese

39) English is part of which language branch? A) Germanic B) North Germanic C) West Germanic D) Indo-European E) Austronesian

C) West Germanic

An isogloss is A) a form of a language spoken in a local area. B) a collection of unique words. C) a boundary between language regions. D) a blending of two language families. E) all of the above

C) a boundary between language regions.

Hebrew is an example of A) an isolated language. B) an extinct language. C) a revived language. D) a language family. E) an Altaic language.

C) a revived language.

Chinese is written in the form of A) a literary tradition. B) an alphabet. C) ideograms. D) Cantonese. E) phonemes.

C) ideograms.

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 a long period of time. B) they immediately develop a literary tradition. C) isolation usually results in the differentiation of one language into two. D) they lose their linguistic abilities.

C) isolation usually results in the differentiation of one language into two.

When languages are depicted as leaves on trees, the trunks of the trees represent A) dialects. B) language groups. C) language families. D) possible prehistoric superfamilies. E) language sects.

C) language families.

What is the primary language family in the Middle East?

Afro-Asiatic

Russian is part of what language branch? A) Balto-Slavic B) Germanic C) Indo-Iranian D) Romance E) Altaic

A) Balto-Slavic

The Flemings and Walloons live in what country? A) Belgium B) France C) South Africa D) Switzerland E) Liechtenstein

A) Belgium

Which of the following is not a Romance language? A) Bulgarian B) Italian C) Portuguese D) Romanian E) French

A) Bulgarian

Which statement best describes the use of English on the Internet? A) English has become less dominant but is still the leading Internet language. B) Different Internets exist for most other widely spoken languages, like Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. C) The number of English-speaking Internet users continues to be above 50%. D) English has become more dominant as the most common language on the Internet.

A) English has become less dominant but is still the leading Internet language.

The most widely spoken Indo-European language is A) English. B) Hindi. C) Spanish. D) Bengali. E) none of the above

A) English.

English is part of which language branch? A) Germanic B) North Germanic C) West Germanic D) Indo-European E) Austronesian

A) Germanic

Immigrants to which American colonies had the most diverse backgrounds? A) Middle Atlantic B) New England C) Northern D) Southeast E) French Canadian

A) Middle Atlantic

A form of a language spoken in a local area is a A) dialect. B) language branch. C) language family. D) language group. E) language root.

A) dialect.

Dialects developed within England primarily because A) different Germanic invaders settled in different regions. B) the Normans invaded from the South. C) the Viking invaders did not remain long in England. D) British Received Pronunciation became the standard dialect. E) commerce developed more slowly in England than on the European continent.

A) different Germanic invaders settled in different regions.

The main difference between languages in the same family, branch, or group is how A) recently in time the languages were once the same. B) closely the speakers of each language live to each other. C) similar the cultures of the speakers of each language are. D) all of the above

A) recently in time the languages were once the same.

Australia and New Zealand's language policies differ today in that Australia A) regards English as a way to promote cultural diversity while New Zealand gives greater support to other languages. B) was settled by English colonists but the original colonial language of New Zealand was French. C) recognizes Maori as an official Aboriginal language whereas New Zealand does not. D) requires immigrants to take a dictation test whereas the New Zealand test is written.

A) regards English as a way to promote cultural diversity while New Zealand gives greater support to other languages.

English is the most important language in North America primarily because of A) the diffusion of English colonies. B) the Norman conquest. C) the global dominance of the United States. D) official government policy. E) prohibitions against foreign languages

A) the diffusion of English colonies.

The large number of individual languages documented in Africa has resulted primarily from A) thousands of years of isolation between tribal 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) thousands of years of isolation between tribal groups.

An Indo-European language is spoken in which of the following countries? A.) Bulgaria B.) Finland C.) Hungary D.) Estonia E.) all of the above

A.) Bulgaria

What is the predominant individual language in the Middle East?

Arabic

The four most frequently spoken branches of Indo-European include all but A) Balto-Slavic. B) Celtic. C) Indo-Iranian. D) Romance. E) Germanic

B) Celtic.

The first speakers of the language that evolved into English were tribes that lived in present-day A) France. B) Denmark. C) United States. D) Italy. E) Switzerland.

B) Denmark.

Official languages in Switzerland include all but which of the following? A) Italian B) Flemish C) Romansh D) French E) German

B) Flemish

The most important language family in Sub-Saharan Africa is A) Khoisan. B) Niger-Congo. C) Nilo-Saharan. D) Afro-Asiatic. E) Altaic.

B) Niger-Congo.

The two largest language families in the world are A) Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic. B) Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European. C) Afro-Asiatic and Sino-Tibetan. D) Balto-Slavic and Sino-Tibetan. E) Altaic and Nilo-Saharan.

B) Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European.

The second-largest language family is A) Indo-European. B) Sino-Tibetan. C) Afro-Asiatic. D) Austronesian. E) Dravidian.

B) Sino-Tibetan.

A lingua franca is A) an English word that has entered the French language. B) a language that is mutually understood by people who have different native languages. C) an extinct language that has been revived. D) an official language in a region of the world different from where the language originated. E) a language used by French colonial administrations

B) a language that is mutually understood by people who have different native languages.

Marija Gimbutas' theory points to the first speakers of the Indo-European language as the ancient A) Celts. B) Germans. C) Kurgans. D) Russians. E) Dravidians.

C) Kurgans.

A creolized language is A) extinct. B) a mix of indigenous and colonial languages. C) an isolated language family. D) a possible prehistoric superfamily. E) a revived formerly extinct language

B) a mix of indigenous and colonial languages.

Both the Angles and the Normans contributed to the development of the English language,because they A) spoke Germanic languages. B) invaded England. C) spoke languages derived from Latin. D) diffused English around the world. E) agreed to divide England

B) invaded England.

English has achieved unprecedented acceptance globally due to A) the role of colonialism and imperialism. B) its role as the common language of a global economy and culture. C) the rise of popular culture and the decline of folk culture. D) the diffusion of religion from MDCs to LDCs.

B) its role as the common language of a global economy and culture.

A group of languages that share a common origin but have since evolved into individual languages is a A) dialect. B) language branch. C) language family. D) language group. E) language root.

B) language branch.

African languages are distinguished by the fact that A) most have a literary tradition. B) none are spoken by more than one million people. C) most belong to the Nilo-Saharan language family. D) even the most important language family is spoken by only a small percentage of Africans.

B) none are spoken by more than one million people.

The survival of any language relies on A.) rapid migration to other areas. B.) the political and military strength of its speakers. C.) the spread of the speaker's material culture. D.) the homogenization of its dialects.

B.) the political and military strength of its speakers.

What geographic factor accounts for the fact that both Americans and the British use different dialects of English?

Both languages diverged because of isolation between the United States and Britain.

Which group of the Germanic family is extinct? A) West Germanic B) North Germanic C) East Germanic D) South Germanic E) Uber Germanic

C) East Germanic

The Icelandic language has changed less than any other Germanic language because of A) Iceland's close contact with other people and activities. B) migration by German tribes. C) Iceland's relative isolation from other places. D) the extinction of the East Germanic group. E) continuous exchange with Norway and Sweden.

C) Iceland's relative isolation from other places.

English is part of which language family? A) Germanic B) North Germanic C) West Germanic D) Indo-European E) Romance

D) Indo-European

The language spoken by the greatest number of native speakers in the world is A) Cantonese. B) English. C) Hindi. D) Mandarin. E) Spanish.

D) Mandarin.

Urdu is the most important language of A) Bangladesh. B) India. C) Iran. D) Pakistan. E) Sri Lanka.

D) Pakistan.

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) Portuguese and Spanish.

The second most widely spoken language family in Europe is A) Balto-Slavic. B) Indo-European. C) Romance. D) Uralic E) Celtic.

D) Uralic

The language spoken by soldiers stationed throughout the Roman Empire was known as A) a dialect of Latin. B) a Romance language. C) a standard language. D) Vulgar Latin. E) Catalan.

D) Vulgar Latin.

Basque is a good example of a(n) A) language family. B) language group. C) lingua franca. D) isolated language.

D) isolated language.

Franglais is A) the lingua franca of France. B) a dialect of French. C) the standard language of French. D) the use of English in the French language. E) a language used by French colonial administrations.

D) the use of English in the French language.

A literary tradition is A) a form of a language used for official government business. B) a form of a language spoken in a particular area. C) a collection of languages related to each other. D) the written form of a language. E) the variety of dialects in a language.

D) the written form of a language.

According to Colin Renfrew's Anatolian hearth theory, Indo-European languages diffused across Europe A) entirely by sea. B) by way of the Kurgan homeland. C) by warriors on horseback. D) with the diffusion of agriculture. E) following the silk road.

D) with the diffusion of agriculture.

British and American English differ in all but which of the following? A.) pronunciation B.) spelling C.) vocabuary D.) alphabet E.) prevalent dialects

D.) alphabet

Germanic invaders of England included which tribe? A) Angles B) Saxons C) Jutes D) Normans E) A, B, and C

E) A, B, and C

When languages are depicted as leaves on trees, the roots of the trees below the surface represent A) dialects. B) language groups. C) language sects. D) language families. E) possible prehistoric superfamilies.

E) possible prehistoric superfamilies.

Celtic languages A.) were threatened by extinction in England. B.) are still spoken by people in France. C.) have been revived in some parts of the British Isles. D.) have an extensive body of literature. E.) all of the above.

E.) all of the above.

What is the official language in the southern half of Belgium?

Flemish, Dutch, French

What is the most important language FAMILY in South America?

Indo-European

The language family encompassing the languages of the People's Republic of China is

Sino-Tibetan

What is the most important language BRANCH of that family in South America?

Romance

Name the most important language branch in each region of Europe. a. northwestern b. southwestern c. eastern

a. Germanic b. Romance c. Slavic or Balto-Slavic

What geographic factor accounts for the fact that both Americans and the British speak English?

migration from Britain to the American colonies