Question 1

Bourdieu argues that languages with the highest symbolic capital are those that are better systems of communication.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 2

What is an example of what Bourdieu calls symbolic domination in the context of language use?

Accepted Answer

A)  in an egalitarian society, the promotion of linguistic diversity 
B)  pride in one's linguistic heritage, regardless of what the majority thinks 
C)  the fact that in a stratified society, even people who do not speak the prestige dialect tend to accept it as standard or superior 
D)  focal vocabulary contrasts among groups 
E)  Chomsky's insistence that the universal grammar defines all culture

Question 3

What term refers to the arrangement and order of words into sentences?

Accepted Answer

A)  syntax 
B)  lexicon 
C)  grammar 
D)  phonology 
E)  morphology

Question 4

The world's linguistic diversity has been cut in half,as measured by the number of distinct languages extant,in the past 500 years; and half the remaining languages are predicted to disappear during this century.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

All human nonverbal communication is instinctive,not influenced by cultural factors.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

Compare and contrast the evolution of language and biological evolution.What role may mutations play in the origins of human language,if any?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Compare and contrast the evolution of language...

Question 7

In this chapter,an alternative to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that cultural changes lead to changes in language.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

Words that clearly descend from the same ancestral word are known as

Accepted Answer

A)  synonyms. 
B)  subgroups. 
C)  homonyms. 
D)  cognates. 
E)  daughters.

Question 9

Diglossia refers to linguistic groups,like those in Papua New Guinea and Australia,that distinguish between only two colors: black and white or dark and light.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 10

Animal call systems exhibit linguistic productivity.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

Which of the following statements about chimpanzee call systems is NOT true?

Accepted Answer

A)  They consist of a limited number of sounds. 
B)  Like language, they include displacement and cultural transmission. 
C)  They consist of sounds that vary in intensity and duration. 
D)  Calls cannot be combined when multiple stimuli are present. 
E)  They are stimuli dependent.

Question 12

Ethnosemantics studies how different members of different linguistic groups organize,categorize,and classify their experiences and perceptions.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

Studies investigating differences in the way men and women talk are examples of sociolinguistics.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 14

Cultural-including linguistic-diversity is alive,well,and thriving in many countries.Local entrepreneurs and international companies such as Google,Yahoo,and Microsoft that capitalize on that diversity are positioned to succeed.Their success depends,however,in large part on

Accepted Answer

A)  their ability to creatively impose their product on others. 
B)  their capacity to take a biocultural approach to marketing. 
C)  external market forces that have little to do with people's cultural, including linguistic, preferences. 
D)  their ability to hire workers from the markets they hope to enter and teach them the values of their corporate culture. 
E)  their capacity to follow one of the main lessons of applied anthropology, that external inputs fit best when tailored properly to local settings.

Question 15

Language and communication involve much more than just verbal speech.The study of communication through body movements,stances,gestures,and facial expressions is known as

Accepted Answer

A)  linguistic physiology. 
B)  biosemantics. 
C)  kinesics. 
D)  protolinguistics. 
E)  diglossia.

Question 16

Problems arise with contemporary means of communication,such as texting and online messaging,because much of what we communicate is a nonverbal reflection of emotional states.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

Sociolinguistics has demonstrated that men lack the linguistic capacity to distinguish between slight changes in color.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 18

In all languages,the same honorifics have the same meaning,regardless of context.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

A sociolinguist studies

Accepted Answer

A)  the interaction of history and sociology. 
B)  cross-cultural comparisons of phonemic distinctions. 
C)  the universal grammar of language. 
D)  linguistic competence. 
E)  speech in its social context.

Question 20

Sapir and Whorf argued that the grammatical categories of different languages lead their speakers to think about things in particular ways.However,studies on the differences between female and male Americans with regard to the color terms they use suggest that

Accepted Answer

A)  changes in the U.S. economy, society, and culture have had no impact on the use of color terms, or on any other terms for that matter. 
B)  contrary to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, it might be more reasonable to say that changes in culture produce changes in language and thought, rather than the reverse. 
C)  in support of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, different languages produce different ways of thinking. 
D)  women and men are equally sensitive to the marketing tactics of the cosmetic industry. 
E)  women spend more money on status goods than do men.

Exam 14: Language and Communication

Bourdieu argues that languages with the highest symbolic capital are those that are better systems of communication.

What is an example of what Bourdieu calls symbolic domination in the context of language use?

What term refers to the arrangement and order of words into sentences?

The world's linguistic diversity has been cut in half,as measured by the number of distinct languages extant,in the past 500 years; and half the remaining languages are predicted to disappear during this century.

All human nonverbal communication is instinctive,not influenced by cultural factors.

Compare and contrast the evolution of language and biological evolution.What role may mutations play in the origins of human language,if any?

In this chapter,an alternative to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that cultural changes lead to changes in language.

Words that clearly descend from the same ancestral word are known as

Diglossia refers to linguistic groups,like those in Papua New Guinea and Australia,that distinguish between only two colors: black and white or dark and light.

Animal call systems exhibit linguistic productivity.

Which of the following statements about chimpanzee call systems is NOT true?

Ethnosemantics studies how different members of different linguistic groups organize,categorize,and classify their experiences and perceptions.

Studies investigating differences in the way men and women talk are examples of sociolinguistics.

Cultural-including linguistic-diversity is alive,well,and thriving in many countries.Local entrepreneurs and international companies such as Google,Yahoo,and Microsoft that capitalize on that diversity are positioned to succeed.Their success depends,however,in large part on

Language and communication involve much more than just verbal speech.The study of communication through body movements,stances,gestures,and facial expressions is known as

Problems arise with contemporary means of communication,such as texting and online messaging,because much of what we communicate is a nonverbal reflection of emotional states.

Sociolinguistics has demonstrated that men lack the linguistic capacity to distinguish between slight changes in color.

In all languages,the same honorifics have the same meaning,regardless of context.

A sociolinguist studies

Sapir and Whorf argued that the grammatical categories of different languages lead their speakers to think about things in particular ways.However,studies on the differences between female and male Americans with regard to the color terms they use suggest that