Deck 4: Language: Sharing Meaning With Words

Question 1

Which of these claims related to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is valid?

A) We can perceive phenomena, events, objects, and ideas more easily when a lexicon to describe them is readily available.
B) We are prisoners of the language we speak, incapable of perceiving small distinctions in color, for example, without labels that identify the color differences.
C) Having a large vocabulary for a specific phenomenon, event, or object reflects the significance a speech community places on these.
D) both a and c

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following statements about the abstracting process is accurate?

A) It is a process of selective perception.
B) The first step in the abstracting process is our sense experience of the physical world.
C) The verbal aspects of abstracting involve description, inference, and sense experience.
D) both a and b

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Phonology is

A) the understanding of words in context
B) the organization of time
C) the part of grammar that describes how morphemes are constructed
D) the study of how we find order within the apparent chaos of speech sounds

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Euphemism

A) is a specialized language of a group
B) is language that numbs us to the unpleasant or offensive
C) should always be avoided
D) none of the above

Question 5

Jargon

A) should be avoided
B) acts as a verbal shorthand that is useful for efficient communication
C) is the specialized language of a group
D) both b and c

Question 6

The capacity of language to transform a small number of phonemes into whatever words, phrases, and sentences you require to communicate your abundance of thoughts and feelings is called

A) syntax
B) productivity
C) using language to talk about objects, ideas, events, and relations that don't just exist in the physical here and now

Question 7

Americans and Britons speak the same language, yet they have different meanings for the same words. This is a problem of

A) connotative meaning
B) operational definitions
C) denotative meaning
D) jargon

Question 8

"Word origin is arbitrary, word usage is conventional." This means that

A) word meaning is derived from the nature of the word itself
B) if an object or event has no name, we can make up a name for it
C) we can't make up a meaning for a word
D) we can use words in any way we wish and communication will be competent

Question 9

The characteristics of symbols include all except the following:

A) representativeness
B) concrete meaning
C) arbitrariness
D) all of the above

Question 10

Displacement is

A) the expanding lexicon of a language
B) the structure of a language
C) grammar
D) using language to communicate about events that may never occur

Question 11

"Headwinds" has how many morphemes?

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Question 12

The lexicon of a language is which of the following?

A) the total vocabulary
B) the grammar
C) the phonemic structure
D) the jargon

Question 13

Which of the following is an inferential statement?

A) The man is red-faced and sweating.
B) The man is irritated.
C) The man is a lunatic.
D) all of the above

Question 14

Which of the following are valid versions of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

A) linguistic relativity
B) linguistic determinism
C) linguistic structure
D) both a and b

Question 15

The Pentagon called our conflict in Iraq "Operation Iraqi Freedom." The Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations called it "an act of genocide." The two versions of the same war are examples of

A) signal reactions
B) framing
C) operational definitions
D) denotation

Question 16

Which of the following is a part of grammar that describes the patterns of sound in a language.?

A) phonology
B) syntax
C) morphology
D) semantics

Question 17

Which of the following is the set of rules that governs the meaning of words and sentences. ?

A) phonology
B) syntax
C) morphology
D) semantics

Question 18

Connotations are the source of most signal reactions.

Question 19

Language is not thought, but language is interconnected with thought.

Question 20

Using language to shape meaning for others is called framing.

Question 21

The degree of accuracy of labels should be determined by social agreement regarding what the label means and whether a particular use of the label conforms with common meaning.

Question 22

An inference is an educated guess about what is known based on what is unknown.

Question 23

There are three dimensions to denotative meaning: potency, evaluation, and activity.

Question 24

Trivia involves facts, examples, and instances that are unconnected to a conclusion, principle or larger idea.

Question 25

A semantic reaction, the delayed, reflective response to words, is the constructive alternative to a signal reaction.

Question 26

After observing a man sitting in a chair, you state, "The man is wearing a dark shirt." This is an inferential statement.

Question 27

The weak version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis seems to have some validity.

Question 28

"Meow" is the word we often use to communicate the sound of a cat. This is the sound a cat makes; no other word, even in other languages, could be used to represent this sound.

Question 29

A morpheme is the smallest unit of sound in a language.

Question 30

Linguistic relativity argues that "Language influences but does not control us."

Question 31

Language facilitates human survival

Question 32

Semantics determines the proper word order and organization for a given language.

Question 33

The use of sign language in apes is not conclusive evidence that they possess the capacity for language

Question 34

Framing is the influence wording has on our perception of choices.

Question 35

Inference is an approximation of the world as you perceive it, not an exact duplicate.

Question 36

A signal reaction is an automatic, emotional response to a symbol.