Deck 4: Geographies of Language

Question 1

A line that marks a boundary in space of common word usage is known as a:

A) threshold.
B) perimeter.
C) dialect.
D) isologloss.
E) frontier.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

All Americans who communicate in English speak with an accent.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

In the United States today, dialects of English have largely disappeared because of television and movies.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The hearth of Indo-European languages is in northern Europe.

Question 5

An isogloss is a line that marks a boundary of word usage.

Question 6

A dialect is a variety of a language with a distinctive vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

Question 7

Many African countries along with India and Pakistan have linguistic diversity index scores of over .75. This means that:

A) there is a high likelihood that two randomly selected residents could not speak to each other.
B) more than 75% of the people speak the standard dialect.
C) creolization has occurred.
D) there are relatively few languages used in the country.
E) more than one language family is present in the country.

Question 8

Which of the following is not a form of language?

A) spoken language
B) body language
C) language family
D) sign language
E) tactile language

Question 9

A language that is no longer taught to children, either in the home or in school, is:

A) a lingua franca
B) an endangered language.
C) an extinct language.
D) a pidgin language.
E) a creole language.

Question 10

Currently, a majority of the 6000 languages used in the world have less than 10,000 native speakers.

Question 11

You have proposed changing the name of the street on which you live. What is likely to happen?

A) Few will notice, since toponyms frequently change.
B) Groups that identify with the current street name will likely object.
C) Most people don't care about the name of their street.
D) If the proposed name is proper and in standard dialect, it will be approved.
E) New street names have to be introduced gradually.

Question 12

People want to change place names because of the powerful statement the name of a place makes about identity and political power.

Question 13

In looking for the origin of a language family, geographers commonly find:

A) that the original language is still used in some remote areas.
B) they must guess at the hearth area since language development happened so long ago.
C) ancient documents explain the development of language families.
D) most language families show limited diffusion because few people migrated in the past.
E) most language families are very spatially compact.

Question 14

African American English and Chicano English are:

A) examples of widely used dialects in the United States.
B) actually separate languages.
C) disappearing in modern society.
D) a variation of the southern dialect.
E) now a part of the standard dialect of English.

Question 15

If the United States made English an official language, how would things be different?

A) No change, since English is the official language of the United States
B) No change, since everyone uses English already.
C) Foreign language publications could no longer be sold in the United States.
D) It would affect how people dealt with the government, but not in their homes.
E) It would increase the linguistic diversity in the United States.

Question 16

While ski, karaoke, hammock, and cruise are considered English words today, they are actually loanwords.

Question 17

A dead language is a language that:

A) is not tied to a specific language branch.
B) has only been spoken in large communities.
C) is no longer taught to children by their parents.
D) has no living speakers.
E) has no known dialects.

Question 18

A language that is used to facilitate trade or business between people who speak different languages is a lingua franca.

Question 19

A standard dialect, such as standard Russian, is an example of an official language.

Question 20

The assortment of languages in a particular area is:

A) language association.
B) lingua franca.
C) language assortment.
D) linguistic diffusion.
E) linguistic diversity.