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Linguistics UNIT 8
25-26 FOWL Linguistics UNIT 8
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What are the number of languages in Oceania? | 1300~ |
| What are the number of languages in SAAS homes? | 43~ |
| What are the number of languages in Europe? | 300~ |
| What are the number of languages in Africa? | 2100~ |
| What are the number of languages in Asia? | 2300~ |
| What are the number of languages in Americas? | 1000~ |
| How many languages are there (approximately) worldwide? | 7000-8500~ |
| How many languages (approximately) have writing systems? | 300-500~ |
| When (very generally) do children begin building their language? | before birth |
| What is one skill little babies have that older children and adults do not have? | perceive all world language vowels and consonants [this skill begins to disappear after the 6-month mark] |
| What two conditions need to be in place for toddlers to experience a vocabulary explosion? | Condition 1: learning multiple words at a time Condition 2: learning more difficult words than easy words |
| At what age does this vocabulary explosion typically occur? | 18 months |
| What are two ways a human being can strengthen their brain? | reading, writing, playing and/or listening to music, singing, exercising, meditating, eating a healthy diet, getting good sleep on a regular basis ... |
| What are two qualities of human language that animals do not share? | - 20,000~ word vocabulary - speak in sentences |
| How have modern humans used language for most of their existence? | talking |
| According to scientists, how long has written language been around? | 5000~ years |
| What is the most common word order found among all the world's languages? -SVO -OVS -VOS -OSV -VSO -SOV | S-O-V e.g. Tony the tea spilled. e.g. Taylor Swift a song sang. |
| What is a dialect? | version of a language spoken in a particular region of the country or by particular group of people |
| How many American English dialects are there generally? | 10~ |
| What are the five branches of linguistics? | phonology [study of sound] morphology [study of word formation] syntax [study of sentence formation] semantics [study of word meaning] pragmatics [study of word meaning in context] |
| What's the main difference between semantics and pragmatics? | semantics = study of word meaning; pragmatics = study of word meaning in context, e.g. the word *winter* when used in Fairbanks, Alaska vs Tampa, Florida |
| What can mutually intelligible languages do with one another, generally? | understand one another |
| What are five commonalities found in all world languages? | -have dialects/accents -have slang -have grammar -can be polite or rude -babies learn at same rate |
| What are five commonalities found in all world languages? | -change -have value -are equally complex -talk about time -can express all thoughts or ideas |
| Where do linguists and anthropologists believe modern human language began, very generally? | southern Africa |
| What do all the Romance languages have in common? | all are derived from Vulgar Latin Romance Languages = Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, Occitan, Romansch |
| What might explain the huge difference between the low-end and high-end number of world languages? | Some linguists may count each dialect as a separate language—leading to a much higher number of world languages; other linguists may lump all dialects into one language, e.g. Chinese or Arabic |
| What is the probability that the Dutch language will change in the next year and why? | 100% probability because of language changes resulting from new slang, innovations in science and technology, new additions brought by way of migration, etc. |
| What do Xhosa click sounds, Mandarin Chinese tones, and English spelling all have in common? | They all represent how all languages are complex in their own ways. |
| Where do we find more phonemes—in African click languages or the Hawaiian language—and why? | African click languages because these languages are close to the origin site of modern human language, and as such, they have the greatest diversity of sounds. The farther you travel from the origin site of modern human language, the fewer phonemes you have because—according to some linguists—it required too much effort to hold onto 100+ different language sounds as groups were migrating out of and settling farther and farther away from southern Africa. |
| How many phonemes do we find in African click languages, and how many phonemes do we find in the Hawaiian language? | In the African Khoisan languages (which have clicks), you can find over 100 phonemes—more specifically, you can find between 130-164 distinct sounds (consonants and vowels). The Hawaiian language, on the other hand, has 13 phonemes—8 consonants and 5 vowels. |
| What's one impact inter-tribal marriage had on Arabic? | Inter-tribal marriage helped contribute to new dialects of Arabic. |
| Are all Chinese dialects mutually intelligible? | While some Chinese dialects are mutually intelligible, many are not. There are over 300 distinct and localized Chinese dialects spoken today. |
| Are all American English dialects mutually intelligible? | Yes, as far as we know, all American English dialects are mutually intelligible, though some very strong accents in the deep South, for example, may impede understanding at times. |
| Are all Arabic dialects mutually intelligible? | No, not all Arabic dialects are mutually intelligible, e.g. Moroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian Arabic are different from Egyptian and Gulf Arabic. |