question

1) The geographic study of the distribution of languages provides a good example of

answer

the interplay between globalization and local diversity.

question

2) A literary tradition is

answer

the written form of a language.

question

3) ________ is to Canada as ________ is to the United States.

answer

French; Spanish

question

4) A form of a language spoken in a local area is a

answer

dialect.

question

5) All but which are true about the English language?

answer

It is an isogloss.

question

6) English has achieved unprecedented acceptance globally due to

answer

its role as the common language of a global economy and culture.

question

7) Germanic invaders of England included which tribe?

answer

Angles, Saxons, and Jutes

question

8) Both the Angles and the Normans contributed to the development of the English language, because they

answer

invaded England.

question

9) English is the most important language in North America primarily because of

answer

the diffusion of English colonies.

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10) The first speakers of the language that evolved into English were tribes that lived in present day

answer

Denmark.

question

11) Dialects developed within England primarily because

answer

different Germanic invaders settled in different regions.

question

12) British and American English differ in all but which of the following?

answer

alphabet

question

13) Immigrants to which American colonies had the most diverse backgrounds?

answer

Middle Atlantic

question

14) An isogloss is

answer

a boundary between language regions.

question

15) When people who speak a given language migrate to a different location and become isolated from other members of their group

answer

isolation usually results in the differentiation of one language into two.

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16) The main difference between languages in the same family, branch, or group is how

answer

recently in time the languages were once the same.

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17) A group of languages that share a common origin but have since evolved into individual languages is a

answer

language branch.

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18) A group of languages that share a common ancestor before recorded history is a

answer

language family.

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19) The second-largest language family is

answer

Sino-Tibetan.

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20) Which of the following is not a Romance language?

answer

Bulgarian

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21) The language spoken by soldiers stationed throughout the Roman Empire was known as

answer

Vulgar Latin.

question

22) The most widely spoken language in Brazil is

answer

Portuguese.

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23) A creolized language is

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a mix of indigenous and colonial languages.

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24) The most widely spoken Indo-European language is

answer

English.

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25) The four most frequently spoken branches of Indo-European include all but

answer

Celtic.

question

26) The two most important languages in South America are

answer

Portuguese and Spanish.

question

27) Urdu is the most important language of

answer

Pakistan.

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28) Russian is part of what language branch?

answer

Balto-Slavic

question

29) Celtic languages

answer

all of the above

question

30) Marija Gimbutas' theory points to the first speakers of the Indo-European language as the ancient

answer

Kurgans.

question

31) The Kurgans

answer

were horse and cattle herders from the grassland steppes of present day Russia and Kazakhstan.

question

32) According to Colin Renfrew's Anatolian hearth theory, Indo-European languages diffused across Europe

answer

with the diffusion of agriculture.

question

33) An Indo-European language is spoken in which of these European countries?

answer

Bulgaria

question

34) The two largest language families in the world are

answer

Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European.

question

35) When languages are depicted as leaves on trees, the roots of the trees below the surface represent

answer

possible prehistoric superfamilies.

question

36) When languages are depicted as leaves on trees, the trunks of the trees represent

answer

language families.

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37) Every European country is dominated by Indo-European speakers except

answer

Finland, Hungary, and Estonia.

question

38) English is part of which language group?

answer

West Germanic

question

39) English is part of which language branch?

answer

Germanic

question

40) English is part of which language family?

answer

...

question

Germanic

answer

Indo-European

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41) Which group of the Germanic family is extinct?

answer

East Germanic

question

42) The Icelandic language has changed less than any other Germanic language because of

answer

Iceland's relative isolation from other places.

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43) The language family encompassing the languages of the People's Republic of China is

answer

Sino-Tibetan.

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44) The language spoken by the greatest number of native speakers in the world is

answer

Mandarin.

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45) Chinese is written in the form of

answer

ideograms.

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46) The second most widely spoken language family in Europe is

answer

Uralic.

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47) The large number of individual languages documented in Africa has resulted primarily from

answer

thousands of years of isolation between tribal groups.

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48) The most important language family in Sub-Saharan Africa is

answer

Niger-Congo.

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49) African languages are distinguished by the fact that

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linguists continue to add newly discovered languages to the African list.

question

50) Hebrew is an example of

answer

a revived language.

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51) The Flemings and Walloons live in what country?

answer

Belgium

question

52) The survival of any language relies on

answer

the political and military strength of its speakers.

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53) The Flemings and Walloons speak languages belonging to different

answer

language branches.

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54) Official languages in Switzerland include all but which of the following?

answer

Flemish

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55) A pidgin language

answer

has no native speakers.

question

56) Basque is a good example of a(n)

answer

isolated language.

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57) Australia and New Zealand's language policies differ today in that Australia

answer

regards English as a way to promote cultural diversity while New Zealand gives greater

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58) Basque is spoken primarily in

answer

the Pyrenees Mountains.

question

59) A lingua franca is

answer

a language that is mutually understood by people who have different native languages.

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60) Franglais is

answer

the use of English in the French language.

question

61) Which statement best describes the use of English on the Internet?

answer

English has become less dominant but is still the leading Internet language.

question

62) All languages have a literary tradition but these traditions are being lost.

answer

FALSE

question

63) Language is a part of culture.

answer

TRUE

question

64) The present distribution of languages around the world is due to technological advances and the diffusion of popular culture.

answer

FALSE

question

65) The Angles, Jutes, and Saxons were Celtic tribes who invaded England 1500 years ago.

answer

FALSE

question

66) English was spread around the world through the establishment of British colonies.

answer

TRUE

question

67) Regional dialects in England can be traced back to the settlement patterns of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

answer

TRUE

question

68) Americans spell words differently than the British primarily because of a strong national feeling in the United States for an independent identity.

answer

TRUE

question

69) New Englanders use a different dialect of English than other Americans because they came from different regions of England.

answer

TRUE

question

70) Nearly half the people in the world speak an Indo-European language.

answer

TRUE

question

71) Germanic, Romance, and Latin are all branches of Indo-European.

answer

FALSE

question

72) Evidence suggests the first speakers of Indo-European were the Kurgans.

answer

TRUE

question

73) Indo-European divided into different branches because of isolation of different speakers.

answer

TRUE

question

74) The most spoken language in China is Cantonese.

answer

FALSE

question

75) The most frequently spoken Afro-Asiatic language is Arabic.

answer

TRUE

question

76) A language family is a collection of languages related through a common ancestral language existing before recorded history.

answer

TRUE

question

77) Switzerland has four official languages.

answer

TRUE

question

78) Icelandic has probably changed less over time than any other Germanic language.

answer

TRUE

question

79) Basque is the only non-Indo-European language currently spoken in Europe.

answer

FALSE

question

80) Hebrew is an example of an extinct language.

answer

FALSE

question

81) What geographic factor accounts for the fact that both Americans and the British speak English?

answer

migration from Britain to the American colonies

question

82) What geographic factor accounts for the fact that both Americans and the British use different dialects of English?

answer

Both languages diverged because of isolation between the United States and Britain.

question

83) In what three ways does the English used in the United States differ from the English used in the United Kingdom?

answer

vocabulary; spelling; pronunciation

question

84) What is the most important language FAMILY in South America? What is the most important language BRANCH of that family in South America? What are the two most important INDIVIDUAL languages in South America?

answer

Indo-European; Romance; Spanish, Portuguese

question

85) Name the world's largest language family (used by nearly half of the world's population).

answer

Indo-European

question

86) Name the world's second largest language family (used by nearly one-fourth of the world's population).

answer

Sino-Tibetan

question

87) Name the most important language branch in each region of Europe. a. northwestern b. southwestern c. eastern

answer

a. Germanic; b. Romance; c. Slavic or Balto-Slavic

question

88) What is the significance of the Kurgans for the study of the geography of languages?

answer

proposed to be the first speakers of Indo-European language

question

89) What is the primary language family in the Middle East? What is the predominant individual language in the Middle East?

answer

Afro-Asiatic; Arabic

question

90) In what country do the Flemings and Walloons live? What is the official language in the southern half of that country?

answer

Belgium; Flemish or Dutch; French

question

91) From most distant to closest relatives, languages can be classified into

answer

Families, branches, and groups

question

92) Multiple dialects of American English formed because of

answer

differences in the dialects of the colonial settlers.

question

How many language families in the world have at least 100 million native speakers?

answer

nine

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