Quizes and Questions On Sociolinguistics 2019 [PDF]

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General questions on sociolinguistics 2019 1. What are the social factors and dimensions an that influence the way people speak? 2. clarify the types and main reasons of code-switching. 4 define diglossia and show its main characteristics. 5. How do sociolinguists differentiate between a dialect and a language? 6. what are the main differences between social and regional dialects. 7 trace the main Various Factors to Determine Social Position and Labovs experiment in distinguishing social dialects.   

Define standard dialect. Define non-standard language and clarify the main criteria of standarization. Provide a few examples of how any non-standard dialect of American English differs grammatically from Standard American English. Then show social characteristics that distinguish the speakers of the two types of dialects

8. what is the relationship between the prestige variant of a variable and socioeconomic class? Lg. differences based on gender. 9, Define and illustrate 4 of the following concept• jargon • codeswitching • polyglossia • vernacular • Regional dialect • gender – preferential features Quiz 1. Sociolinguistics is most appropriately defined as which of these?

The study of human behavior The scientific study of vocal sounds The study of animal vocalizations The scientific study of language usage 2. The linguistic term "code-switching" refers to which of the following? Using a secret or exclusive language in certain circumstances The use of jargon within a language A speaker's use of more than one language, dialect or register in an utterance or interaction A type of cryptology 3. A person who speaks three languages fluently is most properly referred to by which of these terms? Magnalingual Bilingual Extralingual Multilingual 4. Which of the following would NOT be considered a part of sociolinguistics? The study of the sounds in spoken language The general perception of a dialect within a society The study of the attitudes of people towards certain speech characteristics The study of socioeconomic and/or political power factors and their influence on language change. 5. Which of the following is NOT a dialect of English? RP, or "BBC" English

Pennsylvania Dutch Gullah Boston Brahmin 6. Which of the following languages was not widely spread as a result of colonialism? French Swedish English Spanish 7. While the United States has no official language, the de facto language of government is English. Of the following, which is the closest to the number of languages spoken as a native language (mother tongue) by natural-born citizens of the United States? 100 2 300 5 8. English is most closely related to which of the following languages? French Latin Frisian Norse 9. To what does the term "lingua franca" refer? A dialect spoken in the Franconian region of Germany Speaking French

A shared language primarily used for business, education or political reasons. Speaking bluntly or directly 10. "Pidgin" most closely refers to: An extinct Native American language A language group in central Africa People who speak multiple dialects A rudimentary language used primarily for business/trade interactions 1. Sociolinguistics is most appropriately defined as which of these? : The scientific study of language usage Sociolinguistics is the scientific study of language use in society. Popular areas of study include dialects or dialectology; bilingualism and multilingualism; and language and gender.

2. The linguistic term "code-switching" refers to which of the following? A speaker's use of more than one language, dialect or register in an utterance or interaction Code-switching is an area of study within sociolinguistics that has become more prominent with the advent of mass globalization. Code-switching is common among populations that speak two or more languages. However, code-switching does not necessarily mean using multiple languages within an utterance or conversation, it can also entail using two or more dialects and/or registers.

3. A person who speaks three languages fluently is most properly referred to by which of these terms?

Multilingual In sociolinguistics two terms are acceptable for a person who speaks more than one language fluently: bilingual and multilingual. However, since bilingual is somewhat misleading if someone speaks more than two languages fluently, multilingual is the most proper label.

4. Which of the following would NOT be considered a part of sociolinguistics? The study of the sounds in spoken language The study of the interaction between sounds in spoken language is referred to as phonology, which is itself a proper subset of linguistics. Phonetics refers to the sounds present in spoken language. While both are important to sociolinguistic scholarship, neither is central to the subject. Sociolinguistics is mostly concerned with the study of why language is used in a particular manner, or why it has changed from a previous accepted norm to the current norm.

5. Which of the following is NOT a dialect of English? Pennsylvania Dutch Despite the misleading name, Pennsylvania Dutch is a dialect of German, or more properly Low German (Plattdeutsch). The "Dutch" part comes from the mis-application of the English prounciation of "Deutsch" (German) into American English orthography as "Dutch". However, Dutch is a separate, but closely related language, spoken in The Netherlands (or Holland) and parts of Belgium. RP or "BBC" English is the standardized version of English spoken in the UK. Gullah (sometimes referred to as Geechie or Gullah/Geechie) is a dialect of English spoken on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. (Some might consider Gullah/Geechie to be a creole language rather than a dialect, with significant arguments to support such a claim.) Boston Brahmin is a dialect spoken by a small group of upper-class Bostonians.

6. Which of the following languages was not widely spread as a result of colonialism? Your Answer: Swedish While all political powers have at one time or another spread their language through exploration, the best answer is Swedish. The French, English and Spanish spread their languages to far corners of the world during the period of European colonization (circa 1500-1900).

7. While the United States has no official language, the de facto language of government is English. Of the following, which is the closest to the number of languages spoken as a native language (mother tongue) by natural-born citizens of the United States?

The correct answer was 300 There are over 300 separate languages spoken by natural-born citizens of the United States. Many are familiar, such as Spanish, Italian and German. However, the US has rather large pockets of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Taglog etc. speakers. The number is driven higher by the number of indigenous languages still spoken, such as the Athabascan languages (i.e. the Inuit languages in Alaska), and other languages such as Cherokee and Navajo.

8. English is most closely related to which of the following languages?

The correct answer was Frisian English is a Germanic language. While French has had an enormous influence on the lexicon of English (thanks to the Norman invasion of 1066, and further through French political and social influence over centuries), Frisian, a nearly extinct Germanic language, is considered the closest relative of English per linguistic genetics. German, with 100-150 million native

speakers worldwide has the second-most speakers of a Germanic language after English. However it is not the closest relative of English. Standard German of today is based on Old High German (OHG). The "high" refers to altitude, not latitude (or even prestige, although coincidentally the prestigious connotation of "high" is appropriate for sociolinguistic considerations). Contemporary German therefore stems from the dialects of the southern part of Germany (i.e. around Bavaria, or the highlands), while low German (Plattdeutsch), along the same argument, stems from the lowlands, or the northern areas of Germany. The dialects of the north separated into Dutch, Frisian and English as Teutonic tribes migrated westward. Frisian is the bridge of sorts between English and Low German/Dutch speakers. German diverged as a standard language based on OHG's relatively distant proximity to the the North Sea (and Martin Luther's choice to translate the Bible from Latin into a High German dialect), and therefore German diverged from Dutch, Frisian and English. Dutch is therefore the closest non-endangered language relative of English, followed somewhat distantly by German. Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic are the other major surviving Germanic languages. French, a Romance language, is closely related to Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian and the nearly extinct Romansch language spoken in Switzerland.

9. To what does the term "lingua franca" refer? A shared language primarily used for business, education or political reasons. A "lingua franca" is a mutually understood language between two or more groups who do not share a native language. The term originates from Roman Empire era Europe when Latin was the language of religion, scholarship and international (or inter-societal) relations. During the Roman Empire, most of Europe north of Rome was considered Frankish (or Franconian), hence "lingua franca" literally means Frankish language, most likely referring to some point in a dialectal continuum between Roman Latin and various other dialects of Latin (dialects that have diverged into the Romance languages such as Romanian, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese). Latin, therefore, was a lingua franca, but only among a small portion of society beyond Rome, namely Roman Catholic monks and other converts of high social status.

In modern times, the term means any language that is shared between two or more groups that do not share the same native language. English is currently the most common lingua franca between people, however any language can be used as a lingua franca. French, Spanish and Russian are all prominent lingua franca in addition to English. Geography and political factors heavily factor into the lingua franca of a given area. For example, former Soviet block countries used Russian as a lingua franca before the collapse of the Soviet Union. English is the primary lingua franca of western Europe. Spanish is the primary lingua franca for most Central and South American countries where many speak various indigenous languages.

Review and Discussion after Chapter 6 1. Define the term language (as opposed to dialect and idiolect). 2. What is a dialect continuum? Describe it and give an example and explain it. 3. Dialects begin to diverge from each other because of isolation and other factor. Explain.

Chapter 7

1. What are some differences between men’s and women’s speech?

2. What is the difference between Gender-Exclusive Features and Gender- Preferential Features? Cite examples? Gender and Politeness and Stereotype 3 What is meant by mutual intelligibility?

4. DIFFERENCES in communication styles between men and women help us understand some of the problems of communication between men and women. Do you agree? Explain.

Question answer Alexandros Xafopoulos . Code-switching [1] can be defined as the alternation between languages or dialects in speaking or writing in a grammatically overall consistent manner. It usually appears in 3 types, that is extrasentential, intrasentential or intraword. 5. Discuss the distinction between sociolinguistics and the sociology of language. 6. Discuss the different social categories (interpreted broadly) which may be reflected in linguistic variation. Illustrate different types of linguistic variation. 7. What is a lingua franca, a koine, diglossia, a dialect, a patois? How does one distinguish between the different varieties used in a diglossic situation? 8. What abilities need to be present for a person to be considered a native speaker of a language? (What abilities constitute (native) linguistic competence?) 9. Define the concept of speech community. 10.The door is open and you wish someone to shut it for you. Give as many utterances as you can think of that might bring about this result. Describe the situation in which you would use each of them, and your relationship with the hearer. 11.Give graded examples illustrating different degrees of politeness in a linguistic exchange. 12.In what ways does women's speech differ from men's speech? 13.What is the relationship between diglossia and bilingualism? Do the concepts of high language and low language have useful application? List a number of different contexts in which each type of language might be used. 14.Every nation should have only one national language. Is this true? 15.In many languages, the masculine pronoun is used generically to refer to groups composed of both males and females ("Every student must hand in

his exam now.") Can you think of other examples of this type, or other languages behaving in the same way? 16.Define 'dialect', 'accent', 'register'. 17.Distinguish between code switching and code mixing. What are the factors which influence code switching? 18.Define 'pidgin', 'creole'. Why do many creoles involve components from a European language? 19.What might it mean to say 'language is sexist'? Give examples of sexism in language. Answer Gender' as a variable in sociolinguistics. ( There is indeed some evidence that marks language as sexist, or rather their users, and that both sexes do not speak the same way and that cannot only be attributed to stylistic or individual differences. It should be pointed out that language should not be considered as inherently sexist but it is used in a sexist way or even that it reflects a sexist world. Trudgill in a study carried out in Norwich (England) found out that women tended to be more conservative in terms of language use, as men were reported to show most language change. He studied phonological and sociological variable and he also discovered that women are generally more status-conscious than men. Traditionally, the term sex has been used to refer to biological and anatomical differences between men and women, and gender has been used to refer to psychological and socio-cultural differences between the sexes. This approach, although clear and simple enough to categorize profound differences between males and females proves to be little simplistic for sociolinguistic research, as one of the aims of sociolinguistics is to describe the relation between these two, i.e., sex and gender. Sex is a biological category which constitutes the base for the differentiation of roles, norms and expectations within a certain speech community, and these social roles, norms and expectations compose the idea or gender. Recent studies have shown neurophysical differences in the way males and females process language. It seems that phonological processing in males relates to the left hemisphere of the brain whereas it involves both hemispheres in the case of

females. However, no evidence has been shown that such biological differences have an effect on male-female language processing and speech; any dissimilarity seems to be a result of social factors, educational factors, or power.

20.Explain the difference between pidgin and creole. Pidginization is a process that sometimes takes place when two languages come into contact and, as a result, there is a process of simplification or hybridization. Often, the words from one language are adopted while using the syntactic ordering of the other language, but, as a rule the grammatical system is simplified as well as other complex linguistic features. Pidgins have been used for centuries and eventually, some of them, became creoles. The process of creolization takes place when that language that was originally a functional language used only for purposeful communication is acquired as a mother tongue by children who are exposed to it. The social circumstances in which this language is now used are more complex as they need to serve all kinds of social needs to communicative purposes and, therefore, the language expands. In such a situation, the pidgin develops and becomes more complex both in terms of grammar and phonology and its use then covers all kinds of communicative functions. The pidgins involve some kind of simplification, in terms of lexis, grammar and phonological features, whereas the creoles entail the expansion in all kinds of linguistic features and communicative functions. This amplification becomes apparent because the language which originally had limited functions becomes now a system used as a native language that needs to be used for all types of social functions. Originally, pidgins served the purpose of a lingua franca, i.e., a language used by people who speak different mother tongues and who used a common language for a specific functional situation, such as trade. 21.Which of the following could be a definition for Sociolinguistics? a. the study of language variation as a human phenomenon that affects large parts of the population b. a field of research that deals with the relation between language and society c. research aim at finding the reasons for linguistic variations in social and environmental conditions d. all of the above 22.Who coined the term "communicative competence"? a. Dell Hymes

b. Chomsky c. Hudson d. It was a collaboration of all of the above 3

What is the aim of Sociology of Language?    

4.

to investigate and describe the relationship between language and society finding basic grammatical structures that could account for the existence of structured patterns across languages the study of society and how we can understand it through the study of language all of the above

What kind of language is English?    

5.

sinthetic analytic Sanskrit Soundless What does BEV stand for?

   

6.

Black English Village Bold Elitist Vernacular Black English Vernacular all of the above Which of the following could be an auxiliary language?

   

Esperanto Business English Esperanto and Business English BEV

Questions and Answers 

1.

Words like ‘lovely’ and ‘nice’ are claimed to be used more by women than men. This is a case of __________ differentiation. o

A. Gender-exclusive

o

B. Gender-inclusive

o

C. Gender-variable

o

D. None of these



2. A register is a bit of talk that is appropriate in particular _______. o

A. Speech situations

o

B. Societies

o

C. Conditions

o

D. None of these



3.

The co-existence of languages in a fairly stable relationship is known as _____. o

A. None of these

o

B. Language maintenance

o

C. Language stagnation

o

D. Language shift



4. _____ are among certain features of non-standard varieties that are singled out by prescriptivists. o

A. Double consonants

o

B. Double objects

o

C. None of these

o

D. Double negatives



5.

The replacement of forms such as ‘chairman’ by ‘chair(person)’ and ‘fireman’ by ‘fire fighter’ involves the elimination of ______ forms. o

A. None of these

o

B. Generic neuter

o

C. Genitive

o

D. Generic feminine



6. Sociolects are usually thought of in terms of the _____ of the speakers. o

A. Origins

o

B. None of these

o

C. Socialbility

o

D. Socio-economic status



7.

The ______ of words seen as offensive, obscene or disturbing is known as euphemism. o

A. None of these

o

B. Excessive use

o

C. Playful use

o

D. Semantics



8. In sociolinguistics the term ________ denotes any prohibition on the use of particular lexical items. o

A. Totem

o

B. Toto

o

C. None of these

o

D. Taboo



10. Men claim to use non-standard forms more than women do. This is a case of ______. o A. None of these o

B. Exocentric prestige

o

C. Inherent impoliteness

o

D. In-group covert prestige



11. ‘Would you mind opening the window?’ This sentence contains a ______. o A. None of these o

B. Statement of purpose

o

C. Politeness formula

o

D. Prestige formula



12. In situation involving _____ community languages are used at home, in shopping, and recreational and cultural activities. o A.

Multinationalism o

B. None of these

o

C. Multiculturalism

o

D. Multilingualism



13. The topic of language and gender includes the differences in language use that are associated with the gender of the speaker, the addressee and/or the ______. a. none of these o A. None of these o

B. Referent

o

C. Participant

o

D. Linguist



14. In sociolinguistics the term jargon denotes the vocabulary peculiar to _____. o A. Faddish usage o

B. Politics

o

C. Some field

o

D. None of these



15. The social construction of masculinity involves _____. o A. Saving face o

B. Facing the consequences

o

C. None of these

o

D. Accommodation



16. ______ are usually thought of in terms of the socio-economic status of the speakers. o A. Dialects o

B. Sociolects

o

C. None of these

o

D.

Idiolects 

17. A _____ is a bit of talk that is appropriate in particular speech situations. o A. Register o

B. Conversation

o

C. None of these

o

D. Speech



18. In situations involving ____ community languages are used at home, in shopping, and recreational and cultural activities. o A. multilingualism o

B. None of these

o

C. Multiculturalism

o

D. Multinationalism



19. In certain societies men and women use different verb forms. This is a case of ______ differentiation. o A.

Gender-inclusive o

B. None of these

o

C. Gender-exclusive

o

D. Gender-variable

20) The replacement of forms such as 'chairman' by 'chair(person)' and 'fireman' by 'fire fighter' involves the elimination of ______ forms. A.none of these B. generic neuter C.genitive D.generic feminine 21) The co-existence of languages in a fairly stable relationship is known as _____. A.none of these B. language maintenance C.language stagnation D.language shift 22) The social construction of masculinity involves _____. A.saving face B. facing the consequences C.none of these D.accommodation 23) Double negatives ('She don't know nothing') are among certain features of non-standard varieties that are singled out by ______.

A.structuralists B. none of these C.descriptivists D.prescriptivists 24) ______ lends weight to the notion that 'we talk like those we talk to'. A.none of these B. Social network analysis C.Social stratification analysis D.Networking skills 25) The topic of language and gender includes the differences in language use that are associated with the gender of the speaker, the addressee and/or the ______. a. none of these A.none of these B. referent C.participant D.linguist 26 Men claim to use non-standard forms more than women do. This is a case of ______. A.none of these B. exocentric prestige C.inherent impoliteness D.in-group covert prestige 27) A register is a bit of talk that is appropriate in particular _______. A.speech situations B. societies C.conditions D.none of these

28) The situation with Breton in France and Gaelic in Scotland involves _____. A.language shift B. language maintenance C.language stagnation D.none of these 29) In certain societies men and women use different verb forms. This is a case of ______ differentiation. A.gender-inclusive B. none of these C.gender-exclusive D.gender-variable 30) The ______ of words seen as offensive, obscene or disturbing is known as euphemism. A.none of these B. excessive use C.playful use D.semantics Chapter 2 lg. dialects and varieties Distinguish between dialect register and jargon. To understand the meaning of language varieties, it's important to consider how lects differ from standard English. Even what constitutes standard English is a topic of hot debate among linguists. Standard English is a controversial term for a form of the English language that is written and spoken by educated users. For some linguists, standard English is a synonym for good or correct English usage. Others use the term to refer to a specific geographical dialect of English or a dialect favored by the most powerful and prestigious social group. Varieties of language develop for a number of reasons: differences can come about for geographical reasons; people who live in different geographic areas often

develop distinct dialects—variations of standard English. Those who belong to a specific group, often academic or professional, tend to adopt jargon that is known to and understood by only members of that select group. Even individuals develop idiolects, their own specific ways of speaking. Dialect The word dialect—which contains "lect" within the term—derives from the Greek words dia- meaning "across, between" and legein "speak." A dialect is a regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, and/or vocabulary. The term dialect is often used to characterize a way of speaking that differs from the standard variety of the language. Sarah Thomason of the Linguistic Society of America notes: "All dialects start with the same system, and their partly independent histories leave different parts of the parent system intact. This gives rise to some of the most persistent myths about language, such as the claim that the people of Appalachia speak pure Elizabethan English." Certain dialects have gained negative connotations in the U.S. as well as in other countries. Indeed, the term dialect prejudice refers to discrimination based on a person's dialect or way of speaking. Dialect prejudice is a type of linguicism— discrimination based on dialect. In their article "Applied Social Dialectology," published in "Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society," Carolyn Temple and Donna Christian observe: "...dialect prejudice is endemic in public life, widely tolerated, and institutionalized in social enterprises that affect almost everyone, such as education and the media. There is limited knowledge about and little regard for linguistic study showing that all varieties of a language display systematicity and that the elevated social position of standard varieties has no scientific linguistic basis." Due to this kind of dialectic prejudice, Suzanne Romaine, in "Language in Society," notes: "Many linguists now prefer the term variety or lect to avoid the sometimes pejorative connotations that the term 'dialect' has." Register Register is defined as the way a speaker uses language differently in different circumstances. Think about the words you choose, your tone of voice, even your body language. You probably behave very differently chatting with a friend than

you would at a formal dinner party or during a job interview. These variations in formality, also called stylistic variation, are known as registers in linguistics. They are determined by such factors as social occasion, context, purpose, and audience. Registers are marked by a variety of specialized vocabulary and turns of phrases, colloquialisms, the use of jargon, and a difference in intonation and pace. Registers are used in all forms of communication, including written, spoken, and signed. Depending on grammar, syntax, and tone, the register may be extremely rigid or very intimate. You don't even need to use an actual word to communicate effectively. A huff of exasperation during a debate or a grin while signing "hello" speaks volumes. Jargon Jargon refers to the specialized language of a professional or occupational group. Such language is often meaningless to outsiders. American poet David Lehman has described jargon as "the verbal sleight of hand that makes the old hat seem newly fashionable; it gives an air of novelty and specious profundity to ideas that, if stated directly, would seem superficial, stale, frivolous, or false." George Packer describes jargon in a similar vein in a 2016 article in the New Yorker magazine: “Professional jargon—on Wall Street, in humanities departments, in government offices—can be a fence raised to keep out the uninitiated and permit those within it to persist in the belief that what they do is too hard, too complex, to be questioned. Jargon acts not only to euphemize but to license, setting insiders against outsiders and giving the flimsiest notions a scientific aura.” Pam Fitzpatrick, a senior research director at Gartner, a Stamford, Connecticutbased research and advisory firm specializing in high tech, writing on LinkedIn, puts it more bluntly: "Jargon is waste. Wasted breath, wasted energy. It absorbs time and space but does nothing to further our goal of persuading people to help us solve complex problems." In other words, jargon is a faux method of creating a sort of dialect that only those on this inside group can understand. Jargon has social implications similar to

dialect prejudice but in reverse: It is a way of making those who understand this particular variety of language more erudite and learned; those who are members of the group that understands the particular jargon are considered smart, while those on the outside are simply not bright enough to comprehend this kind of language.

CHAPTER 12

Topics/sample questions – the following topics may appear in question form 1. How do gender ideologies and language ideologies fit together? Put another way: How do cultural ideas about maleness and femaleness (masculine and feminine qualities) interact with ideas about language? You could consider everything from dialect speech and gender to ideas about male and female roles in the family or on the job and how this affects language usage. 2. What is a “performance-based approach” to gender and language? Using examples from two of the READINGS for this semester (esp. March 24th and 31st) show how language usage is one aspect of “performing” one’s gender in conversation. The examples should show different types of gender performance (e.g. masculine and feminine). 3. Several of the authors whose work we have read this semester have argued that men and women have different ideas about “ideal” conversational interactions and about the goals for conversation. Discuss this idea using at least TWO of the articles (one can be a film) we have read this semester. In each of the examples you use, how were men’s and women’s ideas about and goals for conversation different, according to the authors? 4. What is the “gender order”? How does language use help to maintain the gender order? Offer two examples from our readings to illustrate your answer. Can language use challenge the gender order?

5. From our readings or films, pick ONE example of how gender and language use fit together. Then offer an analysis of this example from TWO of the following theoretical perspectives: Social Power Model, Two Cultures Model, Performance Theory (toolkit). Quiz answers 1.Three women and three men are chatting. Who is likely to talk more? The women The men They are likely to talk about the same amount 2. Your gender and your sex are the same thing, at least in linguistic terms. True False 3. Which of the following are typically true of male speech? They swear more than women They describe things more than women They are more likely to interrupt than women They backchannel a lot 4. What are weak expletives, who uses them and why? Weak expletives are a gentle alternative to swearing, such as 'golly', 'goodness me', 'oh dear' and so on. They are generally used by women, to avoid crudeness, which is a stereotypically masculine feature of language and to avoid seeming too aggressive or assertive (again, typically male traits). 5. Who is more likely to use language to bond, encourage and balance power? Men Women Children 6. Women frequently use language and conversation to establish their dominance within a group

True False 7. women use more what than men? Tag questions Specific lexis for household chores Phatic talk Swear words Adjectives References to colour 8. It is important to consider gender within language a power, because people's gender is the main factor affecting their lexical choice. True False It is a factor which might affect lexical choice and other linguistic features, but it is unlikely to be the main one. It is important within language and power, because of the potential differences in status according to gender. This leads to an imbalance in power, which creates interesting data for linguists. 9

Women use tag questions more frequently than men. True False

It helps with bonding and is a form of encouragement to enter a conversation, as well as avoiding seeming too assertive. There is debate amongst theorists as to which of these things is the main reason, but it is probably a combination that varies from person to person.

10. All of the following statements about language are true, EXCEPT: 

It is a system of communication.



It often involves mutual intelligibility.



It can include many dialects.



All the word meanings are the same.