1
Which of the following best defines linguistics?
A) The art of writing poems
B) The scientific study of language
C) The history of literature
D) A method of teaching grammar
B) The scientific study of language
Which branch of linguistics studies the development of language over time?
A) Sociolinguistics
B) Historical linguistics
C) Psycholinguistics
D) Applied linguistics
B) Historical linguistics
How many languages are estimated to exist in the world today?
A) About 200
B) About 2,700
C) About 20,000
B) About 2,700
What does a linguistic family show?
A) Blood relations
B) Language relations
C) Political relations
B) Language relations
T/F
1.All languages can create new words when needed.
2.Spoken language is considered more basic than written language.
3.Linguistic performance is the same as linguistic competence.
1.True
2.True
3.False
1.All languages are closed systems and cannot produce new utterances.
2.Modern linguistics is descriptive, not prescriptive.
3.Children acquire language only by copying adults.
1.False
2.True
3.False
Which two groups may look the same racially but speak different language families?
A) Estonians and Letts
B) Germans and Koreans
C) Greeks and Egyptians
A) Estonians and Letts
Which of the following is a Germanic language?
A) Greek
B) English
C) Basque
B) English
Match the definition with the correct branch or concept in linguistics:
Definitions:
a) Studies the relationship between linguistic behavior and mental processes, including speech production and perception.
b) Studies differences and similarities between languages, often applied in language teaching.
c) Concerned with the application of linguistic theories to solve practical language problems, such as translation or teaching.
Branches/Concepts:
1.Psycholinguistics
2.Applied linguistics
3.Contrastive linguistics
4.Historical linguistics
a → 1 (Psycholinguistics)
b → 3 (Contrastive linguistics)
c → 2 (Applied linguistics)
Match the definition with the correct branch of linguistics:
Definitions:
a) Studies the relationship between language and society.
b) Studies language acquisition in children.
c) Uses computers for automatic translation and speech analysis.
Branches:
1.Psycholinguistics
2.Sociolinguistics
3.Computational linguistics
4.Developmental linguistics
a → 2 (Sociolinguistics)
b → 4 (Developmental linguistics)
c → 3 (Computational linguistics)
What language in Spain and France is not related to Indo-European?
Basque
What ancient language was discovered in cuneiform tablets in Anatolia?
Hittite
Fill in the blank
The linguist Charles Hockett said that all languages share several features. One of them is ________, which allows humans to talk about things that are not immediately present.
displacement
Fill in the blank
Noam Chomsky distinguished between linguistic ________ (knowledge of language) and performance (actual use)
competence
Is it scientific to connect race and language? Why or why not?
No, it is not scientific, because race and language are not connected; languages are learned, not inherited biologically.
Which branch do Hindi and Persian belong to? (Choose: Germanic / Indo-Iranian / Celtic)
Indo-Iranian
Identify the Person or Concept
This person added more than 1700 words to the English language and created new words when needed. Who is he?
William Shakespeare
Identify the Person or Concept
This hypothesis suggests that humans acquired language due to brain evolution and sophisticated communication abilities. Name it.
Nature–Evolution Hypothesis
he Indo-European homeland is believed to be in the north of the __ region.
→ Black Sea
Sanskrit is one of the oldest known __ languages.
→ Indo-European