Language Flashcards

1
Q

define language

A

set of mutually intelligible symbols and or sounds used for communication

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2
Q

what are dialects

A

differences within a language

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3
Q

dialects include variations in what

A
  • pronunciation
  • vocab
  • syntax
  • cadence
  • spelling
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4
Q

what is cadence

A

how fast or slow we talk

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5
Q

common dialect connected on a map via an _______

A

isogloss

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6
Q

to connect dialects back to ancient languages, linguists use ___________ _____________

A

backwards reconstruction

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7
Q

what was William Jones’ tactic?

A

syntax commonalities. (ex. Greek and Latin connected to Sanskrit)

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8
Q

what is Jacob Grimm’s tactic?

A

sound shifts- consonants get harder as you go back

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9
Q

what is PIE

A

Proto Indian European

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10
Q

what is the most spoken language family

A

Proto Indian European

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11
Q

explain the Kurgan Hearth

A

dispersal of PIE from the area between the black sea and the caspian sea, relocation diffusion via conquest
-proof? oldest lang is furthest from the hearth

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12
Q

explain the Renfrew hypothesis

A

anatolian hearth in the fertile crescent diffuses via contagious diffusion along with agriculture
-proof? plant genetics

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13
Q

Explain Oppenheimer hearth

A

India then keeps moving west

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14
Q

what leads to language change?

A

human interaction

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15
Q

lingua franca

A

language used for purposes of trade

  • can be a single lang (ex English)
  • can be pidgin
  • can be Creole
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16
Q

pidgin

A

at least 2 languages combined for purposes of trade

-simple vocab and structure

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17
Q

Creole

A

is a pidgin langauge that becomes the native tongue

18
Q

standard language

A

the language taught in schools

19
Q

official language

A

govt. imposed

20
Q

prescriptive language

A

the way a language should be spoken

21
Q

descriptive language

A

the way a language is spoken

22
Q

gatekeepers

A

keep peop;le out

23
Q

Shibboleth

A

password keep people in and out of society or the “in group”

24
Q

does the US have an official language

A

no

25
Q

the official language can be _____________ or ____________–

A

monolingual or multilingual

26
Q

upper class use __________ _______ to keep others out

A

prescriptive grammar

27
Q

the lower class uses _____ to keep others out

A

slang

28
Q

what is deep reconstruction

A

recreating the language that preceded another language

29
Q

language divergence

A

where lack of spatial interaction among speakers of a language breaks language into dialects and isolation breaks it into two different languages

30
Q

language convergence

A

collapses two languages into one

31
Q

what are the romance languages

A
  • french
  • spanish
  • italian
  • romanian
  • portugese
32
Q

where are the romance languages mainly spoken

A

where the roman empire once ruled

33
Q

what are the germanic languages

A
  • english
  • danish
  • german
  • norweigian
  • swedish
34
Q

what are the slavic languages

A
  • russian
  • polish
  • czech
  • slovak
  • ukranian
  • slovenian
  • serb-croatian
  • bulgarian
35
Q

give an example of the ancient language

A

nostratic

36
Q

what are the five language families

A
  • sino-tibetan
  • afro-asiatic
  • PIE
  • Niger Congo
  • Amerindian
37
Q

what is the language that originates from sino tibetan

A

mandarin chinese

38
Q

what is the the subfamily that comes from afro asiatic

A

semantic

39
Q

what two languages come from the semantic sub family

A
  • arabic

- hebrew

40
Q

what three subfamiles originated from PIE

A
  • romance
  • germanic
  • indic
41
Q

give an example of an indic language

A

hindi

42
Q

example of english dialects

A
  • US
  • British
  • Australian