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LING 115 - Linguistics Midterm #2 questions & correct answers rated A+
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LING 115 - Linguistics Midterm #2Which of the following is an s-curve?
a. Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature, then twenty more, then forty more after that.
b. Forty people adopt a new linguistic feature, then twenty more, then ten after that.
c. Forty people adopt a new linguistic feature, then ten more, then twenty more after that.
d. Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature, then forty more, then twenty after that. - correct answer
✔✔d. Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature, then forty more, then twenty after that.
Which of the following CAN'T be described by an s-curve?
a. the diffusion of a sound change through the words a speaker knows
b. the diffusion of a disease through a community
c. the diffusion of a sound change through the speakers of a language
d. the diffusion of pollution in a body of water - correct answer ✔✔d. the diffusion of pollution in a body
of water
Once a change begins in a language, it can't be stopped.
True
False - correct answer ✔✔False
If a sound change happened in English such that all instances of "th" became pronounced as "d," the
word "that" would be pronounced as "dat" before the word "thereby" was pronounced as "dereby."
True
False - correct answer ✔✔True
,The language of Napkinish is experiencing a change. Speakers, starting in the city of Forktown, have
stopped using the "-ippa" suffix in the past tense. In Forktown, the words "tullippa," "loppippa," and
"bonippa" are all now pronounced as "tull," "lopp," and "bon" in the past tense. In the town of
Spoonville thirty miles away, "tullippa" is pronounced as "tull," and "bonippa" is pronounced as "bon,"
but "loppippa" must still be pronounced "loppippa." Bowlville is another town sixty miles away from
Forktown on the other side of Spoonville. (You have to drive through Spoonville to get to Bowlville in
fact.) What must be true in Bowlville?
a. The people in Bowlville definitely do NOT say "lopp" instead of "loppippa."
b. The people in Bowlville definitely say "lopp" instead of "loppippa."
c. The people in Bowlville definitely say "bon" instead of "bonippa."
d. The language change definitely hasn't reached Bowlville. - correct answer ✔✔a. The people in
Bowlville definitely do NOT say "lopp" instead of "loppippa."
An isogloss is a line between two dialects.
True
False - correct answer ✔✔False
It has become common in some varieties of English recently to say "las" instead of "last" (as in: "He came
in las"). Which of the following is true of this change?
a. It is the result of speakers being too lazy to include the final consonant.
b. It is the result of a predictable change whereby speakers reduce the markedness of the language.
c. It is evidence that English has become less elegant than how it was spoken 100 years ago.
d. It shows that English is improving towards being more logical. - correct answer ✔✔b. It is the result of
a predictable change whereby speakers reduce the markedness of the language.
What does the Benrath Line mark?
a. Whether speakers of German say "k" or "ch" on words such as "ich" and "machen."
b. Which dialect of German speakers use.
, c. Whether the speakers of German are considered to be low, high, or middle class.
d. Whether speakers of French were living in the area. - correct answer ✔✔a. Whether speakers of
German say "k" or "ch" on words such as "ich" and "machen."
If speakers of a variety are unsure about a linguistic feature (ex: they can't quite decide if the plural of
"cactus" is "cacti" or "cactuses"), it's probably because that linguistic feature is in the process of
changing.
True
False - correct answer ✔✔True
Why do most speakers of American English pronounce "cursory" with three syllables and "every" with
two syllables?
a. "Cursory" is very hard to pronounce with two syllables.
b. It's the proper way to pronounce the words, and native speakers learned these pronunciations in
school.
c. Losing a syllable in "cursory" would make it sound too much like another word.
d. "Every" is a more common word than "cursory." - correct answer ✔✔d. "Every" is a more common
word than "cursory."
What is Labov 1963 about?
a. a language change because of pressures from above
b. a language change because of pressures from below
c. a language change that shows the s-curve
d. a variety that hasn't ever changed - correct answer ✔✔b. a language change because of pressures
from below
The youth on Martha's Vineyard were the most likely to use the new vowels.
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