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Linguistics - An Introduction - Test - 7 - Sociolinguistics - Language in Social Context

The document discusses a test on sociolinguistics. It covers topics like dialects, dialect variation, code switching, language shift, and other sociolinguistic concepts. The test contains 23 multiple choice questions testing understanding of these topics.

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Wahidatul Husna
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2K views

Linguistics - An Introduction - Test - 7 - Sociolinguistics - Language in Social Context

The document discusses a test on sociolinguistics. It covers topics like dialects, dialect variation, code switching, language shift, and other sociolinguistic concepts. The test contains 23 multiple choice questions testing understanding of these topics.

Uploaded by

Wahidatul Husna
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Linguistics:AnIntroduction

ByWilliamB.McGregor

Test:7Sociolinguistics:LanguageinSocialContext

Name/ID: nana1
PleaseinputyournameorotherID.Thisisjustforprintingonthetestresultsandwillnotbesavedelsewhere.

1)Thetermaccentisusedofdialectalvarietiesthatdifferjustingrammar.

True
False

2)Adialectcontinuumisachainofmutuallyintelligibledialectsofalanguage.

True
False

3) Dialectal variation refers to variation in linguistic forms associated primarily with which of the
followingphenomena?

socialgroups
illiteratespeakers
geographicalregions
ruralregions
differentindividuals

4)Whichofthefollowingbestdescribesthetermisogloss?

boundaryofaregioninwhichasingledialectisspoken
boundaryofaregionwhereaparticularfeatureofalanguageisfound
boundaryofregionwhereasinglelanguageisspoken
noneoftheprevious

5)Dialectalvariationcanbeinanyaspectofalanguageinphonetics,phonology,morphology,
syntax,semantics,orlexicon.

True
False

6)DidLabov'sstudyofthespeechofNewYorkersrevealthatdifferentsocialgroupsusedifferent
allophonesofthevoicelessdentalfricativephoneme?

Yes
No
7) Which of the following characteristics is not likely to correlate with systematic variation in a
language?

age
religion
sex
ethnicity
handedness

8)Whichofthefollowingvarietiesisnotaregister?

BritishEnglish
medicalEnglish
anantilanguage
legalese
scientificDanish

9)Thechoiceoflanguagebyspeakersinabilingualcommunityisnotnormallycompletelyrandom.

True
False

10)Onefactorthatcaninfluencethechoiceoflanguageinabilingualsituationisthedomainofthe
speechinteraction.

True
False

11)Languagechioceinbilingualspeechcommunitiescanusuallybeexplainedcompletelybythe
domainofthespeechinteraction.

True
False

12)Codeswitchingreferstowhichofthefollowingphenomena:

Switchingfromwrittentospokencodes
Changinglanguagesindifferentdomains
Changinglanguageswithinasinglediscourse

13)Inabilingualcommunitychoiceofwhichofthefollowinglanguagevarietiesismostlikelytobe
usedtoindicatesolidarityamongmembersofthecommunity?

AgloballanguagelikeEnglish
Anationallanguage
Aregionallanguageordialect
Alocallanguageorlanguagevariety

14)Codeswitchingisabadhabit,andshouldberemediedviaeducationandtraining.

True
False
15)Languageshiftisaslowprocess,extendingovercenturies.

True
False

16)Aslanguagesbecomeobsolescenttheyoftenbecomestructurallylesscomplex.

True
False

17)Whichofthefollowingisnotacauseoflanguageshift?

Inadequaciesinthegrammarorlexiconofoneofthelanguages
Physicalseparationofthespeakers
Attitudestothelanguagesinuseinthecommunity
Symbolicvalueassociatedwiththelanguages
Separationofchildrenfromadultsinthecommunity

18)Whichofthefollowingisnottrue?

Throughouthumanhistorylanguageshavealwaysbecomeendangeredanddied.
Many languages of Australia and the Americas have become endangered in post
colonialtimes.
Therearenoattestedcasesofsuccessfullanguagerevival.
If the present rate of language death and endangerment continues a considerable
numberoftheworld'slanguageswilldieinthenextcentury.
Speakers of many though not all endangered languages are concerned about
thefateoftheirlanguage.

19)MandarinChineseandCantonesearedialectsofChinese.

True
False

20)Thesituationinwhichinterlocutorsadoptfeaturesofoneanother'sspeechiscalled:

affiliation
idiolectalvariation
accommodation
convergence
disaffiliation

21)ReductionofwordfinalconsonantclustersisadefiningfeatureofAfricanAmericanVernacular
English.

True
False

22)Whatsortofspeechvarietywouldavarietyofalanguageusedwhenspeakingtoanimalsbe?

adialect
aregister
asecretvariety
arespectvariety
adistinctlanguage

23)Useofasecondpersonpluralpronounforasingleaddresseeisinmanylanguagesassociated
withwhichofthefollowing:

intimacy
respectfulness
disrespect
secretvarietiesorantilanguages
deceptionorlying

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Submit

Updated:Feb.11,2009

2009Continuum

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