LING 1

[p] [t] [k] vs. [b] [d] [g]

voiceless stops vs. voiced stops

Which PS rule(s) do you have evidence for in Dinka?

VP → VP PP

Select the true statement(s) about the differences between SNAE and ME.

Voiceless stops in SNAE are voiceless stops in ME.

WHAT IS IN COMMON? [b] [z] [n] [r] [l]

Voicing

Consider the following data come from Dinka, a Nilo-Saharan language of The Sudan. Ayen ace cuiin caam ne paal Ayen has food eaten with knife "Ayen has eaten food with a knife" What string is a VP?

cuiin caam ne paal

Bees are able to communicate about objects (such as a food source) that is both temporally and spatially remote. This demonstrates the feature of:

displacement

[f] [θ] [ʃ] [ʒ] vs. [tʃ] [dʒ]

fricatives vs. affricates

[i] [ɪ] [u] vs. [o][e][ɛ]

high vs. mid vowels

A positive result on a constituency test...

indicates that the string being tested is a constituent.

A negative result on a constituency test...

is, by itself, inconclusive. Other tests must be run to confirm this conclusion.

WHAT IS IN COMMON? [ɪ] [ʊ] [ə] [ɛ]

Tenseness

HOW IS IT WRITTEN IN ENGLISH? [kæʃt]

CASHED

WHAT IS IN COMMON? [i] [u]

Height, tenseness

IPA VOWEL TO WORD: lot

[a]

A LING 1 student ponders the results of constituency tests that she ran on this sentence. What conclusions can she reach? The Jawa has attacked the Wookie with a blaster.

"The Jawa has done so" shows that "attacked the Wookie with a blaster" is a VP constituent.

Consider the following unambiguous sentence and the phrase structure tree that would be used to represent it: The Wookie stole a comb. Which of the following statements is true about the correct PS tree for this sentence?

"stole a comb" is a constituent.

Which statement is true about dialects of any language?

A dialect is speech form that may be restricted to speakers from a certain geographical area. A dialect is speech forms that are shared by members of the same socio-economic class. The most educated and least educated native speakers of a language all speak some dialect. The variety of language taught in schools, the standard language, is a dialect.

Which of the following inform(s) why language loss is such a critical issue?

A large proportion of the world's languages are spoken by a small proportion of the world population. Language loss entails loss of knowledge. Language loss is intertwined with other sociopolitical and historical phenomena such as cultural assimilation.

What does it suggest about the English dialect/English-based creole Singlish?

A non-standard dialect or creole can have the same range of uses as a standard language.

What did the Russian/English color-naming study show?

A person's native language may have a mild effect on peripheral aspects of language processing.

Why would we not want to say that reinforcement/correction plays a major role in first language acquisition?

Adults often provide positive feedback, irregardless of whether the child's utterance is grammatical or ungrammatical. Adults do not systematically correct children if they say something ungrammatical.

Even if the question of whether animals have language is not necessarily a simple 'yes' or 'no', why might we be hesitant to say that animals do have language?

Although animal communication systems can be complex and animals can learn some impressive aspects of human language, the ability to create infinite utterances from finite resources does not seem to be present.

HOW IS IT WRITTEN IN ENGLISH? [beðd]

BATHED

Why would discussion of American Sign Language be relevant to understanding language diversity in the United States?

Because ASL is used in the USA, but it's a completely different language from English. There are dialects of ASL. Many people think that ASL is not a real language. Most deaf Americans use ASL.

Why might a native speaker of English think that this language is a form of "broken" English?

Because English is the lexifier language.

Patient A: "Cinderella...poor...um'dopted her...scrubbed floor, um, tidy...poor, um...'dopted...si-sisters and mother...ball. Ball, prince um, shoe... Name the condition that this patient suffers from. Which part of the brain is typically affected?

Broca's Aphasia because the speech is disfluent and the syntax is affected yet the speech makes sense.

Previously in class we've discussed beliefs and attitudes about wherein some language varieties are arbitrarily esteemed as "better," "prestigious," and "standard." These types of ideologies

Can contribute to language loss and death because they devalue linguistic diversity.

Which areas of the world have large numbers of pidgin and creole languages?

Caribbean, west Africa, western Pacific

Comparing the cases of Genie and Chelsea, which one is more likely a better candidate to test the Critical Period Hypothesis for Language?

Chelsea is better. She was brought up in a non-abusive environment so we know that psychological factors do not play a role.

Which of the following is the evidence that first language acquisition involves an environmental component?

Children always and only acquire the language(s) that are spoken around them.

Consider the following sentence from Nigerian Pidgin English: I go stay for here for a very long time. What property of creoles does this illustrate?

Creoles have fully developed tense systems even in the absence of inflectional morphology.

We know that the relation between the sound of a word and its meaning is arbitrary because:

Different languages have different words that refer to the same objects/concepts.

HOW IS IT WRITTEN IN ENGLISH? [ɛksprɛs]

EXPRESS

Arbitrariness is a property of spoken language, but not signed language.

FALSE

Because pidgins are not an L1 for speakers, they do not have established grammatical structures.

FALSE

The weak form of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that language shapes thought in a deterministic sense.

FALSE

Does the case of Genie provide evidence for or against the existence of a critical period for language?

For. Genie began receiving language input only at puberty near the end of the critical period. She has not been able to acquire English to native-like levels.

HOW IS IT WRITTEN IN ENGLISH? [ʤɪræf]

GIRAFFE

Why can/can't Joe name items in his left visual field?

Given the contralateral nature of brain function, stimuli in the left visual field are processed in the right hemisphere. Therefore, he cannot name items in his left visual field.

Jimmy is a student in the 3rd grade. He is the best player on his soccer team, and excels in his math and science classes. His favorite subject is Art, and he especially loves to draw horses and elephants. In his art class, Jimmy has been overheard saying things like "Me got five crayon," "Her like yellow," and "You like picture?" According to this description, is it more likely that Jimmy has SLI or Williams Syndrome? State your answer and provide supporting evidence. (10 pts) What do these facts suggest about Jimmy?

He likely has Specific Language Impairment. His IQ seems to be in the typical range and his visual/spatial cognition seems to be intact, but he has grammar problems.

Regardless of what we might conclude about such, what is the intended significance of the fact that there are multiple "snow" words in Inuit languages?

It intends to suggest that Inuit speakers perceive the world differently than speakers of languages with fewer "snow" words.

Why is it significant that there are particular kinds of grammatical errors that children do not make?

It suggests that language acquisition is guided by an innate mechanism. This is evidence that even very young children have grammars, although those grammars may be different than the adult grammar.

Consider the sentence below: You best review the readings before you try to do the LING 1 homework. What part-of-speech/ category is "best" in the sentence above?

It's an adverb because it expresses degree, in this case, strong certainty.

HOW IS IT WRITTEN IN ENGLISH? [ʤʌstɪs]

JUSTICE

Consider an imaginary a scenario where two languages come in contact. Over time, one language, Juliettese, becomes used in homes, schools, everyday interactions, and institutions. The other language, Athanese, is typically only used in home settings. Which of the following statements accurately describes this scenario?

Juliettese is the superstrate language.

HOW IS IT WRITTEN IN ENGLISH? [læmz]

LAMBS

Consider some profanities in Singlish (and their translations into North American English), and which of them you find offensive. That is, think about whether the word by itself is something you find offensive, not the translation into English. What do these data suggest?

Like most words in language, the relationship between form and meaning of profane words is arbitrary. Social custom determines what constitutes profanity. Similar to differences in phonetics, morphology, and syntax, what counts as profanity varies by dialect.

WHAT IS IN COMMON? [f] [θ] [s] [ʃ] [h]

Manner, voicing

"When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not." Would this sentence be correct according to a descriptive grammar of English?

No. A descriptive grammarian would judge this sentence to be incorrect because native speakers of English reject such sentences

Would this sentence be correct according to a typical prescriptive grammar of English "I don't need nothing from you."

No. A prescriptive grammarian would judge this sentence as incorrect because a sentence is not supposed to have double negatives in English

Based on what we discussed in class, is there evidence to support the notion that imitation plays a significant role in first language acquisition?

No. Children often produce sentences that are not found in adult speech even though they are ungrammatical.

Consider a subject taking a hypothetical dichotic listening experiment. "Sa" is played in her right ear, while "ka" is played simultaneously in her left ear. When asked what she heard, the subject reports that she heard, "ka". If language is lateralized to the left hemisphere, is this result expected?

No. The brain is organized contralaterally. The stimulus in the left ear goes to right hemisphere, which does not process language.

The data from Singlish is important because it shows that

Non-standard varieties of English can possess grammatical intricacies that are absent in the standard language.

HOW IS IT WRITTEN IN IPA? [plʌmər]

PLUMBER

HOW IS IT WRITTEN IN ENGLISH? [sajko]

PSYCHO

The notion 'duality of patterning':

Pertains to the property of language having two levels: words/signs being built from sounds/shapes and words/signs building larger units like sentences. Does not seem to be present in animal communication systems.

Why were early attempts at getting primates to produce spoken English "doomed to failure"?

Physiological differences between chimps and adult humans make it impossible for chimps to produce the range of sounds found in human oral speech.

WHAT IS IN COMMON? [k] [g]

Place, manner

HOW IS IT WRITTEN IN ENGLISH? [kwot]

QUOTE

Why did some researchers claim that attempts to teach primates human language was an example of the "Clever Hans Phenomenon"?

Reviewing productive utterances of primates led some to believe that these utterances lacked spontaneity and were typically repetitions.

HOW IS IT WRITTEN IN IPA? [sɛlfi]

SELFIE

Indicate the correct statement(s) about language around the world.

Some languages do not have native speakers.

Why do some languages suffer from language shift?

Some languages have higher prestige. So people shift to speaking a language that will help them get jobs.

Based on the linguistic facts, what can be said about Standard and non-standard varieties of English?

Standard English and non-standard English varieties have differences in particular grammar rules.

Why do we think that Universal Grammar plays a central role in first language acquisition?

The Poverty of the Stimulus The rapidity of acquisition and the depth of grammatical knowledge attained Similar stages of language acquisition for both spoken and signed languages

Consider the intuitive notion that words in a sentence are like beads on a string, with no internal structure. What does the pattern of data suggest?

The data shows that we can't treat words in a sentence like beads on a string. If this were the case, words in identical positions should pattern the same.

In what sense does first language acquisition involve a "logical problem"?

The kinds of input that a child receives does not seem commensurate with the grammatical knowledge that native speakers possess.

We examined reduplication in both Standard North American English and Singlish. What statement is true about these cases?

The meaning associated with reduplication in Singlish varies according to the part‑of‑speech of the reduplicated item. Reduplication in English is subject to dialect-specific grammatical rules.

Why is the case of E.C. surprising?

The patient had no left hemisphere, but some language was retained.

"I don't remember the word for this. You can find it in the kitchen on the counter. You eat it. It is round. It's hard. It smells familiar, but I can't remember what it's called." The patient's response indicates that....

The patient has Anomia because there are difficulties in naming objects. However, their syntax is unaffected.

Given the data on be-Deletion in AAVE, what can we conclude about this variety of non-standard English?

The rule of be-Deletion is constrained by the grammar of AAVE.

Joe is presented with two items simultaneously - a car in the right visual field, and a dog in the left visual field. When asked what he sees, he responds, "Dog."

The statement is false because the item in the right visual field is processed in the left hemisphere.

Consider the following statement, "Joe can name items that are presented in his right visual field." Choose the statement below that best describes the facts about Joe.

The statement is true because an item in the right visual field will be processed in the left hemisphere.

Which of the following statements is true about the constituency of this sentence? The Wookie stole a comb.

The string "The Wookie" can undergo pronoun substitution. "It's a comb that the Wookie stole" shows that "a comb" can be clefted. "Wookie" cannot undergo do-so Substitution. "a comb, the Wookie stole" shows that "a comb" can undergo Fronting.

To answer question 12, consider only the interpretation where the Wookie has the blaster and the phrase structure tree that corresponds to that interpretation. Which statement correctly describes the tree?

The string the Wookie with a blaster is a constituent.

Indicate the correct statement(s) about language distribution worldwide

The vast majority of the world's population speak fewer than 350 languages in total. The vast majority of the world's languages are spoken by fewer than 10% of the total population.

What do these above examples suggest about obscene words?

There are no inherently obscene words. They change over time as social conventions change.

The Jawa has attacked the Wookie with a blaster. Which statement describes the correct tree for this sentence?

There are three VPs in the tree. The PP is sister to a VP.

Consider the following sentence and the phrase structure tree that would be used to represent it: The shuttle crashed on Hoth. A LING 1 student runs constituency tests on this sentence and reaches some conclusions. Which are correct?

There are two VPs in this sentence. "crashed on Hoth" is a constituent. The NP "the shuttle" is sister to a VP. The string "on Hoth" is a constituent.

The existence of savants is significant for the study of language because:

They are a case where low IQ goes along with high language ability.

What is true about the [s], [z], and [ɪz] suffixes that typically occur on plural nouns?

They are allomorphs of a single morpheme because they all mean "plural" and their appearance is predictable

The Wada Test suggests that language is lateralized to the left hemisphere because:

When the left hemisphere is anesthetized, a patient is able to identify an object that they held, but cannot use language to name it.

For understanding the relationship between language and intelligence, why is Williams Syndrome of interest?

Williams Syndrome shows a clear dissociation between language and other cognitive abilities like IQ.

Select the true statement about the difference between SNAE and HKE.

Word final [l] following a +back vowel in SNAE is deleted in HKE.

Select the true statement(s) about the differences between SNAE and HKE.

Word final [l] following a -back vowel in SNAE is [w] in HKE

Select the true statement(s) about the differences between SNAE and ME

Word final voiced stops in SNAE are voiceless stops in ME.

Does Jimmy's story support the claim that there is no relationship between general intelligence and language ability?

Yes, because Jimmy has typical range intelligence but impaired language abilities.

Would this sentence be correct according to a descriptive grammarian? "I don't need nothing from you."

Yes. A descriptive grammarian would judge this sentence to be correct because native speakers of English actually say things like this.

Do we have evidence against the idea that language is equal to thought?

Yes. Animals do not have language, but some are clearly are able to think

Are spoken and signed languages fundamentally similar?

Yes. Both spoken and signed languages activate Broca's and Wernicke's Areas.

We have discussed the difference between lexical and functional morphemes. Is there independent evidence to support the idea we should divide morphemes into these two classes?

Yes. Broca's Aphasia and Specific Language Impairment selectively affect functional morphemes, but not lexical ones

Consider this hypothetical situation. You go to a website looking for new words that have been added to English dictionaries since 2016. You see that three prepositions have been added. Should you be surprised?

Yes. Prepositions are from a closed lexical class. So, I would not expect to find any new ones.

Consider the two examples below from Belizean Creole: Dey luk fu dem kwaat badl. 'They look for those quart bottles.' Dis badl a me wan a di bigɛs badl. 'This bottle was one of the biggest (we ever found).' Is the fact that the form badl 'bottle' can be interpreted as singular or plural expected, given the general properties of pidgins & creoles we discussed?

Yes. This is expected because pidgins and creoles often do not have inflectional morphology.

IPA VOWEL TO WORD: spry

[aj]

IPA VOWEL TO WORD: blouse

[aw]

Which sets of sounds share the properties of place of articulation and voicing?

[d], [z], [n]

IPA VOWEL TO WORD: rain

[e]

IPA VOWEL TO WORD: glee

[i]

Which of these sounds is different from the others with respect to the feature backness? Select one: a. [u] b. [ɔ] c. [i] d. [ʊ] e. [o]

[i]

Which of these is different from the others with respect to the feature place? a. [n] b. [g] c. [ŋ] d. [k]

[n]

IPA VOWEL TO WORD: cone

[o]

IPA VOWEL TO WORD: bloom

[u]

Which of these sounds is different from the others with respect to the feature manner? a. [m] b. [n] c. [v] d. [ŋ]

[v]

IPA VOWEL TO WORD: kit

[ɪ]

IPA VOWEL TO WORD: could

[ʊ]

IPA VOWEL TO WORD: guts

[ʌ]

Which sounds are palatals?

[ʤ], [ʧ]

[t] [d] [n] [s] vs. [k] [ŋ] [g]

alveolars vs. velars

Native languages of North America...

are mostly severely endangered.

What proportion of the world's languages is expected to disappear in the next century?

more than half

From the screening "The Linguists", the case of Chulym shows that...

speakers' attitudes about their own language can affect its viability.

The boarding schools for Native American children were established to...

suppress Native American identity, languages, and cultures.

[i] [u] [a] [e] [o] vs. [ɪ] [ʊ] [ə] [ɛ] [æ]

tense vs. lax vowels

linguistic relativity

the hypothesis that one's language determines the nature of one's thought

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

the idea that different languages create different ways of thinking

The "Poverty of the Stimulus" refers to...

the idea that the input that a child receives does not seem rich enough to account for the grammar that the child eventually develops

"Linguistic determinism" refers to...

the notion that the structure of a language determines the way that its speakers think.

Studies of the acquisition of American Sign Language suggest that...

there is a critical period for the acquisition of signed languages, just as for spoken language.

Adults without language are important for the debate about the relationship between language and thought because...

they show that it is possible to lack language and still think. This is because they could hold jobs and performed ordinary activities that require thought.

Consider the following sentence: Helga wrote an essay at the beach yesterday. A LING 1 student is asked to run a do so substitution test on various strings of this sentence. What are some of the conclusions that the student can reach about constituency from the do so substitution test results on this sentence?

wrote an essay at the beach is a constituent wrote an essay at the beach yesterday is a constituent.