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Definitions
Numbers
Africa
Writing Systems
Syntax
100
the smallest unit of meaning or units of sound with meaning
What is a morpheme
100
When did language develop?
more than 100,000 years ago and no less than 40,000 years ago
100
Why do speakers adopt more widely used languages (Arabic, Swahili)?
Increased mobility-Urbanization-Political Upheavals
100
Which language had the first true alphabetic writing system?
Greek
100
Which are the most common word order types of languages?
Most of the worlds languages have either SVO, SOV, or VSO
200
have living speakers but the language is no longer being acquired by children
What is moribund languages
200
How many languages are there in the world nowadays?
Around 6000
200
How many language families are there in Africa?
African: Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, Niger-Congo, Khoisan
200
What is the Rebus principle?
Using pictures to represent sounds.
200
Based on word order, we can divide languages into how many types? Name them.
Six : SVO (English)- SOV -VSO (Classical Arabic) –VOS- OSV-OVS
300
structure of words & their components (parts of words put together to form words)
What is morpholgy
300
Which language located in Europe is not a member of the Indo-European language family?
The Basque language - an isolate
300
What are the two main functions of tones in African languages?
Distinguish meaning and grammar
300
Which culture (civilization) was most responsible for the spread of their alphabet? Why?
Trade – seafaring Phoenicians
300
-What are the characteristics of VO languages?
(SVO, VOS, VSO) are typically: head initial-have prepositions-the verb precedes the adverb-auxiliary precedes the verb-noun precedes the relative clause
400
attach morphemes that have meaning to words
What is synthetic
400
What are the 5 most widespread languages? In order
1. Chinese 2. English 3. Spanish 4. Hindi 5. Arabic
400
What are the reasons for language death?
1.Technology 2. Governments 3. Mass media 
400
- How many types are synthetic morphemes divided into? Name them…
Synthetic morphemes: (attach morphemes that have meaning to words) a) Fusional, b) Agglutinating, c) Polysynthetic
400
What is the difference between head initial and head final?
• Head initial= V+O • Head final= O+V
500
a prefix separated from word by hyphen. Markers for nouns added to words to show meaning (person, big, plural…etc)
What are noun classes
500
How many sub-families are there for Indo-European? Name them.
Three: Germanic, Romance & Slavic
500
What are the click sounds and how are they used?
used as ordinary sounds, with the functions of consonants (parts of words), for interjections & disapproval, three basic click sounds (C, X, Q) e.g Khoisan languages
500
How many main types of writing systems? Name them…
4 = Pictographic, logographic, syllabary, alphabetic
500
How many criteria does Greenberg use to divide languages into his main two types?
Five: 1.head initial or final 2. postpositions or prepositions 3. verb precedes the adverb or opposite 4. auxiliary precedes the verb 5. noun precedes the relative clause