ANTH 3 Final Exam

Practice Exam: Culture and Language

Part I: Short Answer Questions (5 points each)

Phonology

1. Structural linguistics

Q1: Briefly describe the three levels of structure analyzed in structural linguistics.
Q2: Why is language considered "rule-governed" within structural linguistics?
Q3: Define the relationship between the "emic" and "etic" perspectives in linguistic structure.

2. Phonology

Q1: Define phonology and explain its primary focus.
Q2: What is the difference between phonology and morphology?
Q3: How does phonology contribute to a speaker's linguistic competence?

3. Phonetics

Q1: Define phonetics and its role in linguistic study.
Q2: What is the difference between phonetics and phonemics?
Q3: List and briefly describe the two primary parameters used to categorize consonant sounds.

4. International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Q1: What is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and why was it created?
Q2: Briefly describe how the IPA organizes consonant sounds.
Q3: How does the IPA assist linguists in studying "etic" sounds across different cultures?

5. Phone

Q1: Define the term "phone" as used in phonological study.
Q2: How does a phone differ from a phoneme?
Q3: Provide an example of two different phones that represent the same phoneme in English.

6. Phoneme

Q1: Define "phoneme" and explain how linguists identify them using minimal pairs.
Q2: What is the primary function of a phoneme within a language system?
Q3: Give an example of a minimal pair in English and identify the distinct phonemes.

7. Allophone

Q1: Define "allophone" and provide an example from English.
Q2: What is "complementary distribution" in the context of allophones?
Q3: Explain the rule for when the phoneme /p/ becomes an aspirated or unaspirated allophone in English.

Morphology

8. Morphology

Q1: Define morphology and explain what it analyzes.
Q2: How does morphology differ from phonology?
Q3: Why is the morpheme considered the basic unit of morphology?

9. Morpheme

Q1: Define "morpheme" and explain why it is considered the "smallest meaningful part" of a language.
Q2: What is the difference between a lexical morpheme and a grammatical morpheme?
Q3: Identify the morphemes in the word "unhappily".

10. Allomorph

Q1: Define "allomorph" and provide an example of the plural allomorphs in English.
Q2: Briefly describe the phonological rules that determine which plural allomorph (/-s/, /-z/, or /-əz/) is used.
Q3: What are the three allomorphs for the past tense morpheme /-ed/ in English?

11. Compounding

Q1: Define "compounding" in morphology and provide an example.
Q2: How does compounding create new meaning from existing morphemes?
Q3: Briefly describe the morphological structure of the word "inactive".

12. Base morpheme

Q1: Define "base morpheme" (also known as a root or stem).
Q2: What is the difference between a base morpheme and an affix?
Q3: Identify the base morpheme in the word "antidisestablishmentarianism".

13. Free morpheme

Q1: Define "free morpheme" and provide an example.
Q2: How does a free morpheme differ from a bound morpheme?
Q3: In the word "mats," which morpheme is the free morpheme?

14. Bound morpheme

Q1: Define "bound morpheme" and provide an example.
Q2: Why are affixes always considered bound morphemes?
Q3: Identify the bound morpheme in the Turkish word "anlash".

15. Affixation

Q1: Define "affixation" and explain how it modifies a base morpheme.
Q2: List the three most common types of affixes used in various languages.
Q3: Briefly describe the process of affixation in the Tagalog word for "bought".

16. Affix

Q1: Define the term "affix" and explain its relationship to a base.
Q2: What is the difference between a prefix and a suffix?
Q3: Identify the affix and its meaning in the Kanuri word "nəmgana".

17. Prefix

Q1: Define "prefix" and provide two examples from English.
Q2: How does a prefix change the meaning of a base morpheme?
Q3: Identify the prefix in the word "illegal".

18. Suffix

Q1: Define "suffix" and provide two examples from English.
Q2: What grammatical function do suffixes often serve in English?
Q3: Identify the suffix in the word "kindness".

19. Infix

Q1: Define "infix" and provide an example from a language other than English.
Q2: What is the "exception" for how English speakers sometimes use infixes?
Q3: How is an infix inserted into a base morpheme?

20. Circumfix

Q1: Define "circumfix" and provide an example from Hebrew.
Q2: How does a circumfix differ from a prefix or a suffix?
Q3: Identify the circumfix morpheme in the Hebrew word "magdelat".

21. Reduplication

Q1: Define "reduplication" and provide an example from Indonesian.
Q2: What grammatical meaning is often expressed through reduplication?
Q3: How does reduplication change the word "anak" in Indonesian?

22. Interweaving

Q1: Define "interweaving" and provide an example from Arabic.
Q2: How does interweaving differ from standard affixation?
Q3: Identify the root morpheme in the Arabic interweaving example.

23. Portmanteau

Q1: Define "portmanteau" and provide an example.
Q2: How does a portmanteau blend two separate morphemes?
Q3: Give an example of a celebrity name that is a portmanteau.

24. Suppletion

Q1: Define "suppletion" and provide an example from English.
Q2: How does suppletion differ from regular morphological changes?
Q3: Provide an example of suppletion in either French or Portuguese.

25. Isolating languages

Q1: Define "isolating languages" and name a region where they are common.
Q2: Briefly describe the word structure typical of an isolating language like Vietnamese.
Q3: How do isolating languages express grammatical relationships?

26. Polysynthetic/agglutinating languages

Q1: Define "polysynthetic" or "agglutinating" languages and provide an example.
Q2: Briefly describe the structure of a single word in Yu’pik Inuit.
Q3: What is the main characteristic of an agglutinating language?

27. Fusional languages

Q1: Define "fusional languages" and provide an example.
Q2: How do fusional morphemes differ from those in agglutinating languages?
Q3: Using the Spanish word "habló," explain how a single morpheme can carry multiple meanings.

Syntax

28. Syntax

Q1: Define syntax and explain what level of grammar it refers to.
Q2: What are the two basic systems used in syntax to arrange words?
Q3: How does syntax allow for the creation of infinite meaningful utterances?

29. Word order

Q1: Define "word order" and identify the preferred word order in English.
Q2: What is the difference between SVO and SOV word orders? Provide an example of a language for each.
Q3: How does changing word order change the meaning of a sentence in English?

30. Inflection

Q1: Define "inflection" as a syntactical system.
Q2: What is an "inflective" or "free word order" language? Provide an example.
Q3: How does Russian use inflection to allow for various word orders while maintaining the same meaning?

31. Syntactic trees

Q1: What are "syntactic trees" and what do they demonstrate about sentence structure?
Q2: Define the following abbreviations used in syntactic trees: S, NP, and VP.
Q3: Briefly describe the rule for a Verb Phrase (VP) in English syntax.

32. Recursion

Q1: Define "recursion" in the context of syntax.
Q2: Briefly describe two ways that recursion can be applied to generate longer sentences.
Q3: What did Noam Chomsky mean by "universal grammar" in relation to recursion?

Language Change

33. Language change

Q1: Briefly explain why linguists argue that language change is constant and not a form of "degeneration".
Q2: List four primary causes of language change.
Q3: Provide an example of how English has changed from Middle English to Modern English.

34. Language learning

Q1: How does "language learning" by children contribute to long-term language change?
Q2: Why are children's "errors" sometimes adopted into the permanent structure of a language?
Q3: Briefly describe the role of enculturation in language change.

35. Social differentiation

Q1: Define "social differentiation" and explain how it causes language change.
Q2: How do different social groups (based on age, class, or gender) use language to distinguish themselves?
Q3: Briefly describe the relationship between "stigmatized dialects" and "stigmatized groups".

36. Invention

Q1: How does "invention" lead to language change? Provide an example.
Q2: What is the role of technology in the invention of new lexical items?
Q3: Briefly explain how a "portmanteau" is an example of linguistic invention.

37. Language contact/word borrowing

Q1: Define "language contact" and explain how it leads to "word borrowing".
Q2: Provide an example of a borrowed word in English and its language of origin.
Q3: What is the difference between "internal" language change and change caused by language contact?

38. Speaker errors

Q1: Define "speaker errors" and list three specific types.
Q2: Why are speaker errors considered a natural mechanism of language change?
Q3: How can a speaker's fast speech lead to permanent changes in a language's phonology?

39. Loss

Q1: Define the speaker error known as "loss" and provide an example.
Q2: How does loss affect the enunciation of syllables in words like "temperature"?
Q3: Provide an example of "loss" occurring in a common English phrase.

40. Additions

Q1: Define the speaker error known as "additions" and provide an example.
Q2: How do additions function in Romance languages compared to their Latin roots?
Q3: Give an example of an addition in the pronunciation of the word "athlete".

41. Assimilations

Q1: Define "assimilations" and explain why they occur.
Q2: Provide an example of how the word "sandwich" is changed through assimilation.
Q3: How does fast speech contribute to features of one phoneme being carried over to another?

42. Dissimilations

Q1: Define "dissimilations" and explain why they occur during articulation.
Q2: Provide an example of dissimilation in the pronunciation of a month of the year.
Q3: How does the repetition of similar sounds lead to the dropping of a sound in dissimilation?

43. Metathesis

Q1: Define "metathesis" and provide an example from English.
Q2: Briefly describe how the Latin word "parabola" became the Spanish word "palabra" through metathesis.
Q3: What is the relationship between metathesis and the word "asterisk"?

44. Spoonerisms

Q1: Define "spoonerisms" and explain how they are a special form of metathesis.
Q2: Provide a "fun example" of a spoonerism.
Q3: How do spoonerisms involve the exchange of sounds between different words?

45. Blends

Q1: Define "blends" as a speaker error and provide an example.
Q2: How does a blend differ from a portmanteau?
Q3: Give an example of a blend created from "scarcity" and "sparseness".

46. Malapropisms

Q1: Define "malapropisms" and provide an example.
Q2: How do malapropisms involve the incorrect use of words with dissimilar meanings?
Q3: Provide an example of a malapropism involving the word "pineapple".

47. Reanalysis

Q1: Define "reanalysis" and provide the example of the "hamburger".
Q2: How does reanalysis assign new meaning to a morpheme that was not originally intended?
Q3: Briefly explain how "Watergate" led to the reanalysis of "-gate" as a suffix for scandals.

Languages in Contact

48. Lingua Franca

Q1: Define "lingua franca" and name the current global lingua franca.
Q2: Why do communities use a third language as a lingua franca?
Q3: Provide an example of a historic lingua franca used for trade.

49. Pidgin language

Q1: Define "pidgin language" and describe its two main characteristics.
Q2: How does a pidgin emerge in a contact situation like a plantation?
Q3: Name two specific examples of pidgin languages.

50. Superstrate

Q1: Define "superstrate" (or lexifier language) in the context of a pidgin.
Q2: Which social group typically provides the superstrate in a colonial setting?
Q3: Identify the superstrate language for Gullah.

51. Substrate

Q1: Define "substrate" and explain its role in a pidgin's structure.
Q2: Which social group typically provides the substrate in a contact situation?
Q3: Briefly describe the relationship between the substrate and the grammatical structure of a pidgin.

52. Adstrate

Q1: Define "adstrate" and explain how it differs from a superstrate or substrate.
Q2: How many languages are typically involved in the composition of a pidgin with an adstrate?
Q3: Provide an example of a language that might serve as an adstrate in Gullah.

53. Creole language

Q1: Define "creole language" and explain how it develops from a pidgin.
Q2: What role do children play in the transition from a pidgin to a creole?
Q3: Briefly describe why creoles are considered "completely new languages" with regularized grammar.

54. Gullah

Q1: Define "Gullah" and identify the region where it is spoken.
Q2: Identify the superstrate and substrate influences in Gullah.
Q3: Provide an example of a Gullah word and its African source language.

55. Tok Pisin

Q1: Define "Tok Pisin" and identify the country where it is an official language.
Q2: List the three main language influences that comprise Tok Pisin.
Q3: Provide an example of a phrase in Tok Pisin and its English translation.

56. Hawaiian Pidgin/Creole

Q1: Briefly describe the historical circumstances that led to the development of Hawaiian Creole.
Q2: Identify two specific grammatical features of Hawaiian Creole.
Q3: How is "future tense" signaled in Hawaiian Creole?

Sign Languages and Deaf Culture

57. Sign languages

Q1: Briefly explain why sign languages are not just "gestures" but legitimate linguistic systems.
Q2: List three situations in which a manual language might form.
Q3: Provide an example of a sign language that developed for trade.

58. Nicaraguan Sign Language

Q1: Briefly describe the origins of Nicaraguan Sign Language (LSN).
Q2: How did LSN evolve from a pidgin into the creole ISN?
Q3: What role did children play in standardizing the grammar of ISN?

59. American Sign Language (ASL)

Q1: Define ASL and identify its historical connection to French Sign Language.
Q2: Briefly describe the four basic articulatory parameters (phonology) of ASL.
Q3: Why is ASL considered a distinct language from English rather than a manual representation of it?

60. Deaf culture

Q1: Define "Deaf culture" and explain how it is tied to language identity.
Q2: Briefly describe the "Gift of the Defect" concept.
Q3: Why do many Deaf activists argue that deafness should be seen as a culture rather than a disability?

61. Deaf vs. deaf

Q1: What is the difference between "Deaf" (with a capital D) and "deaf" (with a lowercase d)?
Q2: How does the medical definition of deafness differ from the cultural identity of the Deaf?
Q3: Briefly explain why this distinction is important for the use of cochlear implants.

Linguistic Diversity

62. Dialects

Q1: Define "dialect" and explain how it differs from "slang".
Q2: List the three types of variation (phonological, grammatical, lexical) included in a dialect.
Q3: Give an example of a "lexical difference" between regional dialects in the U.S..

63. Idiolect

Q1: Define "idiolect" and explain how it relates to individual linguistic diversity.
Q2: How does an idiolect differ from a dialect?
Q3: Briefly describe why every person has a unique idiolect.

64. Bilingualism

Q1: Define "bilingualism" and identify its primary cause in many nations.
Q2: Why is the U.S. considered one of the most bilingual countries in the world?
Q3: List three benefits of bilingualism for brain function.

65. Individual bilingualism

Q1: Define "individual bilingualism" and provide an example.
Q2: How does individual bilingualism differ from societal bilingualism?
Q3: Briefly describe why individual bilingualism is common among immigrants in the U.S..

66. Societal bilingualism

Q1: Define "societal bilingualism" and provide an example of a bilingual nation.
Q2: What is the main emphasis of bilingual nations regarding their official languages?
Q3: Briefly describe the status of French and English in Canada.

67. Diglossia

Q1: Define "diglossia" and explain how speakers use it in multilingual communities.
Q2: What is the difference between "high" and "low" languages in a diglossic situation?
Q3: Why are "low" languages often associated with strong emotional loyalty?

68. Code switching

Q1: Define "code switching" and provide an example.
Q2: List the two primary rules of code switching: the "free morpheme constraint" and the "equivalence constraint".
Q3: Why do bilingual speakers use code switching as a marker of identity?

69. Spanglish, Chicano Spanish, Tex-Mex, etc.

Q1: Define "Spanglish" and explain why it is considered a rule-governed language form.
Q2: How does Spanglish serve as an expression of "hybrid identity" or "mestizaje"?
Q3: Who typically uses Spanglish, and how does it differ across different regions of the U.S.?

70. African American Language (AAL)

Q1: Define "African American Language" (AAL) and provide two other names for it.
Q2: Briefly describe the feature known as "The Zero Copula" in AAL.
Q3: What is "invariant be," and what grammatical aspect does it mark in AAL?

71. Oakland Ebonics controversy

Q1: Briefly describe the 1996 Oakland Unified School District resolution regarding Ebonics.
Q2: What was the main controversy surrounding the resolution's recognition of Ebonics as a "genetically based" language?
Q3: What were the two important issues the resolution sought to resolve despite its unsound statements?

Language Loss and Revitalization

72. Language loss (causes)

Q1: List four major historical causes of language loss.
Q2: Briefly describe how colonialism and Indian boarding schools contributed to "language theft".
Q3: What does the phrase "language spread means language loss" mean in the context of the Philippines?

73. Extinct, endangered, and moribund languages

Q1: Define "moribund languages" and explain why they are at high risk of extinction.
Q2: What is the difference between an "extinct" language and an "endangered" one?
Q3: Provide a statistic regarding the current state of Native American languages in the U.S..

74. Language revitalization

Q1: Define "language revitalization" and explain why it is usually a "grassroots endeavor".
Q2: What factor is considered necessary for the successful maintenance of a threatened language?
Q3: Briefly describe why immersive language programs are the most successful method of revitalization.

75. Hebrew (Eliezer Ben Yehudah)

Q1: Briefly describe how Eliezer Ben-Yehudah was responsible for the revitalization of Hebrew.
Q2: Why did Hebrew serve to unite Jewish people around the world in the late 19th century?
Q3: What was the status of Hebrew as a spoken language before its revitalization?

76. Wampanoag (Jessie Little Doe)

Q1: Briefly describe Jessie Little Doe’s role in the revitalization of the Wampanoag language.
Q2: What is the Wampanoag Children’s House school, and why is it considered a success?
Q3: How does Wampanoag revitalization relate to larger cultural sustainability efforts?

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Answer Key

Answers must be two to three sentences and use course materials.

Structural Linguistics (Q1): It analyzes language at three levels: phonology (sounds), morphology (word structure), and syntax (sentence structure).
Phonology (Q1): Phonology is the study of a language's sound system. It analyzes how sounds are used to differentiate meaning.
Phonetics (Q1): Phonetics is the objective description of all sounds that occur in a human language. It focuses on the physical production and "etic" (outside) view of sounds.
IPA (Q1): The International Phonetic Alphabet is a standardized system used to represent the sounds of all human languages. It allows linguists to transcribe sounds accurately regardless of orthography.
Phone (Q1): A phone is any distinct sound used in human speech. Unlike phonemes, phones are physical sounds rather than mental categories that change meaning.
Phoneme (Q1): A phoneme is a sound that serves to differentiate meaning in a specific language. Linguists identify them using minimal pairs, which are words that differ by only one sound.
Allophone (Q1): An allophone is one of multiple forms of the same phoneme. For example, in English, the aspirated [ph] in "pit" and the unaspirated [p] in "spit" are allophones of /p/.
Morphology (Q1): Morphology is the analysis of word structure. it examines how morphemes are combined to create meaning.
Morpheme (Q1): A morpheme is the smallest meaningful part of a language. It cannot be broken down further without losing its specific meaning.
Allomorph (Q1): Allomorphs are variant forms of a single morpheme. An example is the English plural morpheme, which sounds like /-s/, /-z/, or /-əz/ depending on the preceding sound.
Compounding (Q1): Compounding is the morphological process of combining two base morphemes to create a new word. Examples include "notebook" or "inactive".
Base Morpheme (Q1): A base (or root) is a basic lexical word that provides the core meaning. It can be a free morpheme or a bound stem.
Free Morpheme (Q1): A free morpheme is a unit of meaning that can stand alone as a word. An example is "mat" in the word "mats".
Bound Morpheme (Q1): A bound morpheme is a unit of meaning that must be attached to a base to be understood. Affixes like prefixes and suffixes are always bound.
Affixation (Q1): Affixation is the process of adding a bound morpheme (affix) to a base. It includes prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and circumfixes.
Affix (Q1): An affix is a bound morpheme added to a base morpheme to modify its meaning. They are categorized by where they are placed in relation to the base.
Prefix (Q1): A prefix is an affix that precedes the base morpheme. Examples include "re-" in "replay" and "il-" in "illegal".
Suffix (Q1): A suffix is an affix that follows the base morpheme. Examples include "-ly" in "vividly" and "-ness" in "kindness".
Infix (Q1): An infix is an affix inserted into the middle of a base morpheme. While rare in English, it is common in languages like Tagalog (e.g., "b-in-ili").
Circumfix (Q1): A circumfix is a two-part affix that is placed both before and after a base. An example is the Hebrew "m- -at" in "magdelat".
Reduplication (Q1): Reduplication is the process of repeating a segment of a base morpheme as an affix. In Indonesian, it is used to indicate plurality, such as "anak anak" for "many children".
Interweaving (Q1): Interweaving is a morphological process where affixes are interspersed throughout a root. It is a characteristic feature of Arabic, where roots like "ktb" are combined with different vowels.
Portmanteau (Q1): A portmanteau is a word formed by blending two separate morphemes together. Examples include "spork" (spoon + fork) or "brunch" (breakfast + lunch).
Suppletion (Q1): Suppletion occurs when a morpheme is replaced by a completely different form to mark a grammatical change. An example is the English verb "to go" becoming "went" in the past tense.
Isolating Languages (Q1): Isolating languages are those where each word typically consists of a single morpheme. Vietnamese is a classic example of this typology.
Polysynthetic/Agglutinating (Q1): Agglutinating languages create long words by stringing together many distinct morphemes. Yu’pik Inuit can express an entire sentence's meaning in a single complex word.
Fusional Languages (Q1): In fusional languages, multiple grammatical meanings are fused into a single morpheme. For example, the Spanish suffix "-ó" simultaneously marks tense, person, and number.
Syntax (Q1): Syntax is the level of grammar that deals with the arrangement of words into phrases and sentences. It utilizes systems of word order and inflection.
Word Order (Q1): Word order refers to the linear arrangement of subject, verb, and object. English primarily uses the SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) pattern.
Inflection (Q1): Inflection is a system where grammatical relationships are marked by modifying word forms rather than strict order. Russian is an inflective language that allows for free word order.
Syntactic Trees (Q1): Syntactic trees are visual diagrams used to show the hierarchical structure of a sentence. They demonstrate how words group into phrases like NP (Noun Phrase) and VP (Verb Phrase).
Recursion (Q1): Recursion is the syntactical property that allows rules to be applied repeatedly to generate infinitely long sentences. Examples include nesting prepositional phrases or sentences within sentences.
Language Change (Q1): Language change is a constant, natural phenomenon. Linguists reject the idea of "degeneration" because all living languages shift over time.
Language Learning (Q1): Language learning by children contributes to change when they fail to perfectly replicate the speech of the previous generation. These variations can eventually become the new standard.
Social Differentiation (Q1): Social differentiation occurs when different groups use language to mark their identity. This leads to linguistic shifts as groups move away from or toward certain prestige forms.
Invention (Q1): Invention creates change by introducing new words for new technologies or cultural concepts. Portmanteaus like "infomercial" are examples of lexical invention.
Language Contact (Q1): Language contact occurs when speakers of different languages interact, often through trade or colonization. This leads to "word borrowing," where terms from one language enter another.
Speaker Errors (Q1): Speaker errors are unintended variations in speech that can become permanent features of a language. Examples include loss, additions, and metathesis.
Loss (Q1): Loss is a speaker error where syllables are dropped during fast speech. Words like "temperature" often become "temperture" through this process.
Additions (Q1): Additions occur when extra syllables are inserted into a word. Pronouncing "athlete" as "athalete" is a common English example.
Assimilations (Q1): Assimilation happens when features of one phoneme are carried over to another due to fast speech. A common example is "sandwich" being pronounced as "samwich".
Dissimilations (Q1): Dissimilation is the dropping or changing of a sound when similar sounds are repeated and difficult to articulate. This is why many people say "Febuary" instead of "February".
Metathesis (Q1): Metathesis is the reordering of sounds or segments within a word. A famous example is the shift from "ask" to "aks".
Spoonerisms (Q1): A spoonerism is a form of metathesis where sounds are exchanged between two different words. For example, "break a glass" might be spoken as "blake a grass".
Blends (Q1): Blends are errors where two words with similar meanings are mixed together. An example is "sparcity," a mix of "scarcity" and "sparseness".
Malapropisms (Q1): A malapropism is the incorrect use of a word that sounds similar to the intended one. An example is saying "comparisons are odorous" instead of "odious".
Reanalysis (Q1): Reanalysis occurs when a speaker assigns a new meaning to a morpheme that was not originally intended. The word "hamburger" was reanalyzed to create "veggie-burger" even though the original word referred to the city of Hamburg.
Lingua Franca (Q1): A lingua franca is a third language used for communication between groups who do not share a native tongue. English is currently the dominant global lingua franca.
Pidgin (Q1): A pidgin is a simplified contact language with limited vocabulary and simple grammar. It emerges in trade or plantation settings where no common language exists.
Superstrate (Q1): The superstrate is the language of the dominant or colonizing group in a contact situation. It typically provides the majority of the pidgin's vocabulary.
Substrate (Q1): The substrate is the language of the socially subordinate group in a contact situation. It typically provides the grammatical structure for the resulting pidgin.
Adstrate (Q1): An adstrate is a third language involved in a pidgin's composition that is neither dominant nor subordinate. Multiple African languages served as adstrates in the development of Gullah.
Creole (Q1): A creole is an expanded, fully functional language that develops from a pidgin. It becomes a creole when children are raised speaking the pidgin as their first language.
Gullah (Q1): Gullah is a creole language spoken on the Sea Islands of the Southeastern United States. It has an English superstrate and multiple African substrate influences.
Tok Pisin (Q1): Tok Pisin is an official creole language of Papua New Guinea. it is a blend of English, German, and various indigenous languages.
Hawaiian Creole (Q1): Hawaiian Creole, often called "Hawaiian Pidgin," developed on islands with complex linguistic contact history. It is spoken by nearly half of the state's population.
Sign Languages (Q1): Sign languages are full linguistic systems with their own phonology and syntax. They are not mere gestures and can develop even among hearing populations in certain situations.
Nicaraguan Sign Language (Q1): LSN began in 1979 when deaf children in new schools developed their own "home signs". It evolved from a pidgin into the standardized creole ISN.
ASL (Q1): American Sign Language is a complete language with its own morphological and syntactic structure. It was codified by Laurent Clerc and is closely related to French Sign Language.
Deaf Culture (Q1): Deaf culture refers to a group of people who share a common language (sign) and identity. Many members see deafness as a benefit or identity rather than a disability.
Deaf vs. deaf (Q1): "deaf" refers to the medical condition of hearing loss, while "Deaf" refers to the cultural identity and community. This distinction highlights the difference between seeing deafness as a disability versus an identity.
Dialects (Q1): A dialect is a regional or social variety of a language. Unlike slang, it includes consistent variations in phonology, grammar, and vocabulary.
Idiolect (Q1): An idiolect is an individual's unique version of a language. It is shaped by a person's specific region, age, class, and social experiences.
Bilingualism (Q1): Bilingualism is the ability to speak two languages. It often results from colonial legacies or immigration.
Individual Bilingualism (Q1): This refers to a single person's ability to use two languages. It is common in "unilingual" countries like the U.S. among immigrant populations.
Societal Bilingualism (Q1): This occurs when a nation officially recognizes and maintains multiple languages. Canada is a bilingual nation that preserves both French and English.
Diglossia (Q1): Diglossia is a situation where a community uses different languages or dialects for different social contexts. Often, one is seen as a "high" prestige language and the other as a "low" in-group language.
Code Switching (Q1): Code switching is the practice of switching between two languages or dialects within the same speech act. It is rule-governed and serves as a marker of hybrid identity.
Spanglish (Q1): Spanglish is a rule-governed language form created through code switching between English and Spanish. It is an expression of hybrid identity, particularly for second-generation individuals.
African American Language (Q1): AAL is a systematic and rule-governed variety of English spoken by many African Americans. Key features include the "Zero Copula" and "invariant be".
Oakland Controversy (Q1): In 1996, the Oakland school board sought to recognize Ebonics as a primary language to better teach students Standard English. The resolution was controversial for stating Ebonics was "genetically based" and distinct from English.
Language Loss Causes (Q1): Major causes include colonialism, imperialism, and globalization. Boarding schools that punished native speech also led to "language theft".
Moribund Languages (Q1): A moribund language is one that children are no longer learning as a first language. They account for 30% of the world's currently spoken languages.
Language Revitalization (Q1): Revitalization is the effort to save dying or extinct languages through grassroots endeavors. Success usually requires immense passion and immersive programs.
Hebrew Revitalization (Q1): Eliezer Ben-Yehudah spearheaded the effort to revive Hebrew as a spoken language in the late 19th century. He successfully created a Jewish national identity through the language.
Wampanoag Revitalization (Q1): Jessie Little Doe used historical documents to revitalize the Wampanoag language. The Wampanoag Children’s House is a successful immersive school based on her work.