Both the Angles and the Normans contributed to the development of the English language, because they A) invaded England B) spoke languages derived from Latin C) spoke Germanic languages D) agreed to divide England E) diffused English around the world
A
The four most frequently spoken branches of Indo-European include all but A) Indo-Iranian B) Germanic C) Celtic D) Balto-Slavic E) Romance
C
An Indo-European language is spoken in which of these European countries? A) Finland B) Estonia C) Bulgaria D) Hungary E) All of the above
C
The Icelandic language has changed less than any other Germanic language because of A) migration by German tribes B) the extinction of the East Germanic group C) Iceland's relative isolation from other places D) continuous exchange with Norway and Sweden E) Iceland's close contact with other people and activities
C
Every European country is dominated by Indo-European speakers except A) Germany, Austria, and Switzerland B) Finland, Hungary, and Estonia C) Spain, Italy, and Portugal D) Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
B
The most widely spoken language in Brazil is A) Creole B) Catalan C) French D) Spanish E) Portuguese
E
English is part of which language group? A) Indo-European B) Semitic C) West Germanic D) North Germanic E) Germanic
C
The language spoken by the greatest number of native speakers in the world is A) Mandarin B) Cantonese C) Spanish D) English E) Hindi
A
T/F The most frequently spoken Afro-Asiatic language is Arabic.
True
T/F English was spread around the world through the establishment of British colonies.
True
T/F Regional dialects in England can be traced back to the settlement patterns of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.
True
Basque is spoken primarily in A) Liechtenstein B) Brittany C) Barcelona, Spain D) the Swiss Alps E) the Pyrenees Mountains
E
T/F Indo-European divided into different branches because of isolation of different speakers.
True
A creolized language is A) a mix of indigenous and colonial languages B) an isolated language family C) a possible prehistoric superfamily D) a revived formerly extinct language E) extinct
A
Which of the following is not a Romance language? A) Italian B) Portuguese C) Bulgarian D) Romanian E) French
C
T/F Switzerland has four official languages.
True
The first speakers of the language that evolved into English were tribes that lived in present-day A) France B) Switzerland C) United States D) Denmark E) Italy
D
English is part of which language family? A) Romance B) Germanic C) North Germanic D) West Germanic E) Indo-European
E
When languages are depicted as leaves on trees, the trunks of the trees represent A) possible prehistoric superfamilies B) language sects C) language families D) language groups E) dialects
C
When languages are depicted as leaves on trees, the roots of the trees below the surface represent A) language sects B) dialects C) language groups D) language families E) possible prehistoric superfamilies
E
The large number of individual languages documented in Africa has resulted primarily from A) colonial administration of native lands B) thousands of years of isolation between tribal groups C) frequent migration by the different tribal groups D) introduction of many different languages by the colonial powers E) repeated invasions by outsiders
B
T/F New Englanders use a different dialect of English than other Americans because they came from different regions of England.
True
The geographic study of the distribution of languages provides a good example of A) the interplay between globalization and local diversity B) the role and spread of religion across much of the world C) the diffusion of folk culture in different areas of the world D) political conflicts that arise due to ethnic tensions
A
Hebrew is an example of A) an Altaic language B) a language family C) an isolated language D) an extinct language E) a revived language
E
The language spoken by soldiers stationed throughout the Roman Empire was known as A) a dialect of Latin B) a standard language C) Catalan D) a Romance language E) Vulgar Latin
E
Immigrants to which American colonies had the most diverse backgrounds? A) French Canadian B) New England C) Middle Atlantic D) Northern E) Southeast
C
A form of a language spoken in a local area is a A) language family B) dialect C) language root D) language branch E) language group
B
A literary tradition is A) the variety of dialects in a language B) the form of a language used for official government business C) the written form of a language D) a collection of languages related to each other E) a form of a language spoken in a particular area
C
T/F Germanic, Romance, and Latin are all branches of Indo-European
False
The Flemings and Walloons live in what country? A) Belgium B) South Africa C) France D) Switzerland E) Liechtenstein
A
Marija Gimbutas' theory points to the first speakers of the Indo-European language as the ancient A) Celts B) Germans C) Dravidians D) Russians E) Kurgans
E
According to Colin Renfrew's Anatolian hearth theory, Indo-European languages diffused across Europe A) following the silk road B) entirely by sea C) by warriors on horseback D) by way of the Kurgan homeland E) with the diffusion of agriculture
E
English has achieved unprecedented acceptance globally due to A) the diffusion of religion from MDCs to LDCs B) the rise of popular culture and the decline of folk culture C) its role as the common language of a global economy and culture D) the role of colonialism and imperialism
C
When people who speak a given language migrate to a different location and become isolated from other members of their group A) they lose their linguistic abilities B) isolation usually results in the differentiation of one language into two C) their language usually shows very little change even over a long period of time D) groups form multiple dialects E) they immediately develop a literary tradition
B
Urdu is the most important language of A) Sri Lanka B) India C) Iran D) Bangladesh E) Pakistan
E
The Flemings and Walloons speak languages belonging to different A) dialects B) language sects C) language branches D) language groups E) language families
C
Celtic languages A) are still spoken by people in France B) have an extensive body of literature C) have been revived in some parts of the British Isles D) were threatened by extinction in England E) all of the above
E
Chinese is written in the form of A) literary tradition B) ideograms C) an alphabet D) Cantonese E) phonemes
B
T/F Evidence suggests that the first speakers of Indo-European were the Kurgans.
True
Nearly half the people in the world speak an Indo-European language.
True
The language family encompassing the languages of the People's Republic of China is A) Austro-Asiatic B) Indo-Iranian C) Sino-Tibetan D) Mandarin E) Indo-European
C
The second most widely spoken language family in Europe is A) Uralic B) Celtic C) Romance D) Indo-European E) Balto-Slavic
A
T/F A language family is a collection of languages related through a common ancestral language existing before recorded history.
True
T/F Language is a part of culture.
True
A group of languages that share a common origin but have since evolved into individual languages is a A) language family B) language root C) dialect D) language group E) language branch
E
The two largest language families in the world are A) Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European B) Balto-Slavic and Sino-Tibetan C) Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic D) Altaic and Nilo-Saharan E) Afro-Asiatic and Sino-Tibetan
A
A lingua franca is A) a language used by French colonial administrations B) an official language in a region of the world different from where the language originated C) an extinct language that has been revived D) an English word that has entered the French language E) a language that is mutually understood by people who have different native languages
E
Germanic invaders of England included which tribe? A) Jutes B) Angles C) Saxons D) Normans E) A, B, and C
E
Franglais is A) the lingua franca of France B) the standard language of French C) a language used by French colonial administrations d) the use of English in the French language E) a dialect of French
D
________ is to Canada as ___________ is to the US. A) Northern hemisphere; southern hemisphere B) presidential government; parliamentary government C) French; Spanish D) conflict over ethnicity; conflict over language
C
British and American English differ in all but which of the following?
D
The most widely spoken Indo-European language is A) Bengali B) English C) Hindi D) Spanish E) None of the above
B
English is the most important language in North America primarily because of A) the global dominance of the US B) the diffusion of English colonies C) official government policy D) the Norman conquest E) prohibitions against foreign languages
B
The two most important languages in South America are A) Dutch and English B) English and Spanish C) Creole and Portuguese D) French and Spanish E) Portuguese and Spanish
E
The survival of any language relies on A) the political and military strength of its speakers B) rapid migration into other areas C) the homogenization of its dialects D) the spread of its speakers' material culture
A
A pidgin language A) stems from folk culture B) has no native speakers C) is spread by popular culture D) all of the above E) none of the above
B
Russian is part of what language branch? A) Balto-Slavic B) Altaic C) Germanic D) Romance E) Indo-Iranian
A
The Kurgans A) were the earliest speakers of Sino-Caucasian B) conquered much of East Asia several thousand years ago C) were a Germanic tribe that invaded England D) were horse and cattle herders from the grassland steppes of present day Russia and Kazakhstan E) preserved Basque in present-day Spain
D
English is part of which language branch? A) Austronesian B) West Germanic C) Germanic D) North Germanic E) Indo-European
C
A group of languages that share a common ancestor before recorded history is a A) language branch B) language family C) dialect D) language root E) language group
B
The second-largest language family is A) Indo-European B) Sino-Tibetan C) Dravidian D) Austronesian E) Afro-Asiatic
B
The main difference between languages in the same family, branch, or group is how A) closely the speakers of each language live to each other B) similar the cultures of the speakers of each language are C) recently in time the languages were once the same D) all of the above
C
A isogloss is A) a collection of unique words B) a blending of two language families C) a boundary between language regions D) a form of a language spoken in a local area E) all of the above
C
Dialects developed within England primarily because A) the Viking invaders did not remain long in England B) commerce developed more slowly in England than on the European continent C) different Germanic invaders settled in different regions D) British Received Pronunciation became the standard dialect E) the Normans invaded from the south
C
The most important language family in Sub-Saharan Africa is A) Afro-Asiatic B) Khoisan C) Altaic D) Niger-Congo E) Nilo-Saharan
D