LING 115 HW 4-7 + Gender
Which of the following is an s-curve?
- Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature, then twenty more, then forty more
after that.
- Forty people adopt a new linguistic feature, then twenty more, then ten after
that.
- Forty people adopt a new linguistic feature, then ten more, then twenty more
after that.
- Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature, then forty more, then twenty after
that - correct answer ✔- Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature, then forty
more, then twenty after that
Which of the following CAN'T be described by an s-curve?
- the diffusion of a sound change through the words a speaker knows
- the diffusion of a disease through a community
- the diffusion of a sound change through the speakers of a language
- the diffusion of pollution in a body of water - correct answer ✔- the diffusion
of pollution in a body of water
,Once a change begins in a language, it can't be stopped.
- True
- False - correct answer ✔- False
If a sound change happened in English such that all instances of "th" became
pronounced as "d," the word "that" would be pronounced as "dat" before the
word "thereby" was pronounced as "dereby."
- True
- False - correct answer ✔- True
The language of Napkinish is experiencing a change. Speakers, starting in the
city of Forktown, have stopped using the "-ippa" suffix in the past tense. In
Forktown, the words "tullippa," "loppippa," and "bonippa" are all now
pronounced as "tull," "lopp," and "bon" in the past tense. In the town of
Spoonville thirty miles away, "tullippa" is pronounced as "tull," and "bonippa" is
pronounced as "bon," but "loppippa" must still be pronounced "loppippa."
Bowlville is another town sixty miles away from Forktown on the other side of
Spoonville. (You have to drive through Spoonville to get to Bowlville in fact.)
What must be true in Bowlville?
- The people in Bowlville definitely do NOT say "lopp" instead of "loppippa."
- The people in Bowlville definitely say "lopp" instead of "loppippa."
- The people in Bowlville definitely say "bon" instead of "bonippa."
,- The language change definitely hasn't reached Bowlville. - correct answer
✔- The people in Bowlville definitely do NOT say "lopp" instead of "loppippa."
An isogloss is a line between two dialects.
- True
- False - correct answer ✔- False
It has become common in some varieties of English recently to say "las"
instead of "last" (as in: "He came in las"). Which of the following is true of this
change?
- It is the result of speakers being too lazy to include the final consonant.
- It is the result of a predictable change whereby speakers reduce the
markedness of the language.
- It is evidence that English has become less elegant than how it was spoken
100 years ago.
- It shows that English is improving towards being more logical. - correct
answer ✔- It is the result of a predictable change whereby speakers reduce
the markedness of the language.
What does the Benrath Line mark?
, - Whether speakers of German say "k" or "ch" on words such as "ich" and
"machen."
- Which dialect of German speakers use.
- Whether the speakers of German are considered to be low, high, or middle
class.
- Whether speakers of French were living in the area. - correct answer ✔-
Whether speakers of German say "k" or "ch" on words such as "ich" and
"machen."
If speakers of a variety are unsure about a linguistic feature (ex: they can't
quite decide if the plural of "cactus" is "cacti" or "cactuses"), it's probably
because that linguistic feature is in the process of changing.
- True
- False - correct answer ✔- True
Why do most speakers of American English pronounce "cursory" with three
syllables and "every" with two syllables?
- "Cursory" is very hard to pronounce with two syllables.
- It's the proper way to pronounce the words, and native speakers learned
these pronunciations in school.
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