LING 115 Midterm

What is a language isolate?

A language that is not related to any other varieties or languages.

What is extended diglossia?

A community where two different languages are used, each for separate functions.

What is linguistic purification?

When a government decides to purge all foreign words from their language.

What is a moribund language?

A language that only has speakers over the age of 50 and isn't being learned by younger generations.

What is an isogloss?

A line on maps drawn by dialect geographers to indicate areas where certain linguistic features occur.

How do linguists categorize Variety A and Variety B that differ only in pronunciation?

Dialects of the same language.

What factors can influence speakers to identify with a certain language?

Socioeconomic class, religion, ethnicity, political party.

Which language pairs do not support the mutual intelligibility hypothesis?

Korean and Japanese.

What is the key difference between a language and a dialect?

Power; 'A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.'

What are the four functions of a National Language?

Unifying, separatist, frame of reference, prestige.

What is graphization?

The selection of a writing system for a language.

What are the 4 steps of the language planning process?

Selection, corpus planning (standardization), promotion of new OL/NL, winning acceptance.

What are the 5 steps to standardize a new official language?

Vocabulary expansion, create dictionaries, decide pronunciations, decide grammar, graphization.

Which country engages in linguistic pluralism with four official languages?

Singapore; OLs: Malay, Tamil, Mandarin, English; NL: Malay.

What generation does Anna belong to after moving from Austria to the U.S. at age 12?

Generation 1.5.

What are the three types of minority language groups?

Indigenous groups, immigrant groups, border change groups.

What are 4 factors that can lead speakers to not learn/maintain their heritage languages?

Political laws, social pressures, economic factors, social status.

What are 4 factors that can lead to the maintenance of heritage languages?

Size and concentration of minority groups, media availability, visits to the home country, parental commitment.

What steps were critical in the revitalization of the Hebrew language?

New vocabulary creation, introduction in schools, parental use, literature and newspapers in Hebrew.

What is triglossia?

Three languages used in complementary distribution by a whole community.

What are 4 defining characteristics of diglossia?

Two distinct varieties used by all speakers, different functions, learned in different environments, H variety is standardized.

What type of code switching is 'You are a know-it-all, aren't you?'?

Extra-sentential code-switching.

What are the positive and negative views of high and low varieties in diglossic communities?

High: positive - educated, negative - cold; Low: positive - expressive, negative - not formal.

What is borrowing in linguistics?

When a word from one language is used in another language.

What is the 4th generation effect?

Economic security and stability in immigrant minorities leads to better preservation of their heritage language.

What revitalization technique was used with the Maori language?

Language nests - Elder native speakers share the language with the youngest generation.

What does the acronym COD stand for in heritage language trends?

Capacity, Opportunity, Desire.

What is a dialect continuum?

The gradual change in language over a geographic area with rarely clear dialect boundaries.

What scripts have been used for the Azeri language?

Arabic, Latin, Cyrillic, and Latin again after the fall of the USSR.

What counts as a language?

A variety recognized as a language may privilege its use in government, education, law, and commerce.

What rights do speakers of languages have?

Speakers of languages may have linguistic rights to use their language, unlike speakers of dialects.

What are the two linguistic theories of the definition of language?

The Invariant System Hypothesis and the Mutual Intelligibility Hypothesis.

What does the Invariant System Hypothesis state?

A language consists of a set of words (vocabulary) and rules of grammar and pronunciation used uniformly by a population.

What is an idiolect?

The unique, personalized way that each individual uses language.

What does the Mutual Intelligibility Hypothesis suggest?

If two speakers can understand each other, they are varieties of the same language; if not, they are different languages.

What are some counter-examples to the Mutual Intelligibility Hypothesis?

1. Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian are mutually intelligible but classified as different languages. 2. Mandarin and Cantonese are mutually unintelligible but classified as dialects of Chinese.

What socio-political factors influence language classification?

Political events and situations lead to the formal recognition of certain varieties as languages and others as dialects.

How did Hindi and Urdu become recognized as separate languages?

Political polarization along religious lines during India's independence led to their recognition as distinct languages.

What happened to the classification of languages after the disintegration of Yugoslavia?

Four languages were declared instead of one, as each state recognized its own language.

What is the significance of the saying, 'A language is a dialect with an army and a navy'?

It highlights the political power that can influence the classification of languages and dialects.

How does a variety gain 'language' status?

Through natural selection or deliberate selection for roles such as national or official language.

What psychological factors affect the perception of a variety as a language?

Historicity and autonomy can enhance the perception of a variety as a separate language.

What is a dialect?

A dialect is a variety not recognized as a distinct language but related to an officially recognized language.

What are the properties of dialects?

1. Not recognized as distinct languages. 2. Differences in accent, vocabulary, and grammar. 3. Associated with a geographical area. 4. Assumed to be mutually intelligible.

How do linguists identify and describe dialects?

Through the work of dialect geographers who map pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

What are isoglosses?

Boundary lines marking the distribution of dialect variables.

What are non-regional dialects?

Dialects that arise from religious, social, or ethnic differences.

What are styles and registers in language use?

Different ways speakers use their language, including formal and informal styles.

What are social dialects?

Different ways of speaking the same language among various social groups.

How do Hindu caste groups speak Gujarati?

They speak it differently based on their caste.

What are ethnic dialects?

Dialects associated with specific ethnic groups, such as early Italian American immigrants or African American Vernacular English.

What influences shifts in language style?

Participants, setting, topic, and function of speech.

What is referential communication?

Language used to convey information.

What is affective communication?

Language used to initiate, maintain, and strengthen social relations.

What are official languages (OLs)?

Languages specified for areas of life or geographical areas for practical use.

What are national languages (NLs)?

Languages intended to represent national identity and unify populations.

What is the main function of a national language?

To identify the nation and unite its people.

What is the difference between national and official languages?

NLs are symbolic; OLs are utilitarian.

What is status planning in language planning?

Giving special roles to certain languages or varieties.

What is corpus planning in language planning?

Developing vocabulary, dictionaries, pronunciations, and grammatical rules for selected languages.

What is the goal of promoting new national or official languages?

To spread knowledge and encourage use of the new languages.

What is one method to win acceptance of a new language?

Emphasizing its practical value and prestige.

What is an example of a successful unilingual policy?

The standardization and acceptance of modern Japanese.

What challenges exist in countries with multiple languages?

Choosing a national or official language can be complex.

What is a disadvantage of having multiple national languages?

It weakens the potential unifying force of having a single national language.

What is an example of a country with multiple national languages?

Democratic Republic of Congo with four national languages.

What are the advantages of having multiple official languages?

Equal linguistic advantages for all population segments.

What is a disadvantage of multiple official languages?

It is expensive to produce official materials in multiple languages.

What is a potential issue with having no national language?

The official language may not stimulate national unity.

What are the advantages of using a non-indigenous official language?

It is ethnically neutral and already standardized.

What are the disadvantages of using a non-indigenous official language?

It may have negative colonial associations and be hard to learn.

What is a national-official language?

A single language that serves both national and official functions.

Give examples of national-official languages.

Japanese, Polish, French (in France).

When was Pakistan formed?

1947

What are the two parts of Pakistan?

West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)

What was the population of West Pakistan?

25 million

What was the population of East Pakistan?

44 million

What language did West Pakistan declare as the national language?

Urdu

What language did people in East Pakistan want as the national language?

Bengali

What happened in 1971 regarding East Pakistan?

East Pakistan became independent Bangladesh

What was the population composition of Sri Lanka at independence in 1948?

75% Sinhala speakers and 25% Tamil speakers

What did the Freedom Party pledge in Sri Lanka's first post-independence elections?

To make Sinhala the unique official language of Sri Lanka

What was the outcome of the Freedom Party's pledge?

Sinhala was made the unique official language, leading to riots and civil unrest.

When did Indonesia gain independence?

1949

What was the new official language selected for Indonesia?

Malay, developed as Indonesian

What are the four special functions that national languages should fulfill?

Unifying, Separatist, Prestige, Frame-of-reference

Did Indonesian achieve the unifying function?

Yes, it unifies the population and provides advantages over their L1.

What is the national language of Singapore?

Malay

What percentage of Singapore's population is Chinese?

75%

What is the government policy regarding language in Singapore?

Promotion of a multicultural, multilingual society.

What is 'linguistic pluralism'?

The coexistence of multiple languages within a society.

What is corpus planning in language policy?

The expansion of vocabulary and its symbolic effects.

What is language purification?

Purging of foreign-origin words to emphasize national identity.

What is linguistic protectionism?

A policy that promotes the creation of new words from internal resources.

What happened to the Azerbaijani language under Soviet rule?

It was switched from Arabic script to the Roman alphabet.

What was the language policy in Turkey in the 1920s?

Turkey switched from Arabic script to Roman alphabet.

What is the significance of the Cyrillic alphabet in the Soviet Union?

It was imposed on all languages to weaken links with Muslim groups.

What is the impact of government interference on language writing systems?

It can stop communication and be used for political purposes.

What is the effect of linguistic assimilation?

Pressure on minority groups to stop using their heritage language.

What is the state objective of forcing people to assimilate culturally and linguistically?

To create a unified, strong national identity.