Question 1

American women are far more likely than men to distinguish between colors like teal and turquoise, or magenta and purple. What is this an example of?

Accepted Answer

A)  a biological difference between men and women 
B)  the gendered focal vocabulary that exists within American culture 
C)  the use of paralanguage that differentiates female culture from the dominant male culture 
D)  the use of linguistic productivity and displacement 
A)  a biological difference between men and women 
B)  the gendered focal vocabulary that exists within American culture 
C)  the use of paralanguage that differentiates female culture from the dominant male culture 
D)  the use of linguistic productivity and displacement B

Question 2

What does Noam Chomsky's research propose about language?

Accepted Answer

A)  All humans share a similar ability to learn language based on the way that our brains are hardwired. 
B)  Stories cannot be translated successfully into other languages. 
C)  Different languages create different ways of thinking. 
D)  A language's grammar is derived from the culture in which it develops. 
A)  All humans share a similar ability to learn language based on the way that our brains are hardwired. 
B)  Stories cannot be translated successfully into other languages. 
C)  Different languages create different ways of thinking. 
D)  A language's grammar is derived from the culture in which it develops. A

Question 3

What can linguistic anthropologists learn from studying the focal vocabulary of a social group? Why would words that show a particular sophistication and that describe unique cultural realities of a group of people be useful to investigate? Discuss one example of how the focal vocabulary of a language has changed or may change in the future, and discuss how men and women may have different vocabularies on particular topics.

Accepted Answer

The focal vocabulary is composed of words and phrases for objects or phenomena unique to a region or culture. Examples usually touch on classes of objects for which there is a subtle and vast array of names, such as words for potatoes in the Andes, precipitation among the Inuit, or cattle among the Nuer. The textbook also discusses how color and sports vocabularies are instances of gendered vocabulary. Students may discuss the term lexicon as the wider range of words available in a language.

Question 4

What did anthropologist Laura Bohannan discover in her attempt to translate a classic text from English literature into Tiv?

Accepted Answer

A)  There is an underlying universal appreciation of grammar that all humans share. 
B)  It is important to translate stories across different languages once you are fluent so that they can be shared. 
C)  An accurate translation of Shakespeare is best accomplished through sign language. 
D)  The meaning of the story became lost, as the original meanings of the English words could not be easily translated. 
A)  There is an underlying universal appreciation of grammar that all humans share. 
B)  It is important to translate stories across different languages once you are fluent so that they can be shared. 
C)  An accurate translation of Shakespeare is best accomplished through sign language. 
D)  The meaning of the story became lost, as the original meanings of the English words could not be easily translated.

Question 5

Chinese, spoken by about 1.3 million people, is the most common native language in the world. At the same time, many Chinese students are sent abroad to English-speaking countries to learn English. Why do these students learn English at all?

Accepted Answer

A)  The Chinese government seeks to develop more Chinese-language universities and centers abroad. 
B)  English is spoken by nearly 95 percent of the world's population. 
C)  English is the dominant spoken language worldwide and is central in education and technology. 
D)  The production of global media like radio and television is extremely difficult to accomplish using written Chinese. 
A)  The Chinese government seeks to develop more Chinese-language universities and centers abroad. 
B)  English is spoken by nearly 95 percent of the world's population. 
C)  English is the dominant spoken language worldwide and is central in education and technology. 
D)  The production of global media like radio and television is extremely difficult to accomplish using written Chinese.

Question 6

What are the building blocks of language? Describe the elements that descriptive linguists use to analyze systems of language. What is the role of syntax and grammar in putting these building blocks together?

Accepted Answer

Students should describe the role that p

Question 7

What would linguistic anthropologists label new words that have emerged during the digital age such as mouse, modem, download, and tweet?

Accepted Answer

A)  cultural 
B)  focal 
C)  emotional 
D)  sociolinguistics 
A)  cultural 
B)  focal 
C)  emotional 
D)  sociolinguistics

Question 8

What do linguists call small units of sound that carry meaning on their own?

Accepted Answer

A)  phonemes 
B)  syntax 
C)  morphemes 
D)  paralanguage 
A)  phonemes 
B)  syntax 
C)  morphemes 
D)  paralanguage

Question 9

Because few children grow up learning to speak the Lakota language, efforts have been made to preserve language samples and artifacts in tribal areas. One of the major efforts in use today is:

Accepted Answer

A)  a participatory social media platform built by LiveAndTell. 
B)  replacing standard English with the Lakota language in local schools. 
C)  the translation of the Christian Bible into the Lakota language by the Summer Institute of Linguistics. 
D)  legislation making the Lakota language the official language in all tribal areas. 
A)  a participatory social media platform built by LiveAndTell. 
B)  replacing standard English with the Lakota language in local schools. 
C)  the translation of the Christian Bible into the Lakota language by the Summer Institute of Linguistics. 
D)  legislation making the Lakota language the official language in all tribal areas.

Question 10

Anthropologists have shown that chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates are able to communicate about things not immediately present and events in the past or future. What aspect of human language does this describe?

Accepted Answer

A)  displacement 
B)  productivity 
C)  complexity 
D)  innovation 
A)  displacement 
B)  productivity 
C)  complexity 
D)  innovation

Question 11

According to the textbook, what is happening to human languages worldwide?

Accepted Answer

A)  Outside the United States, languages are being lost. 
B)  Languages are being lost at the rate of three per day. 
C)  New languages are being created at a rate faster than they are being lost. 
D)  Languages are being lost at the rate of one every ten days. 
A)  Outside the United States, languages are being lost. 
B)  Languages are being lost at the rate of three per day. 
C)  New languages are being created at a rate faster than they are being lost. 
D)  Languages are being lost at the rate of one every ten days.

Question 12

Which term is used to describe the extinction of languages that have very few speakers?

Accepted Answer

A)  linguistic shift 
B)  Sapir-Whorf hypothesis 
C)  language loss 
D)  historical linguistics 
A)  linguistic shift 
B)  Sapir-Whorf hypothesis 
C)  language loss 
D)  historical linguistics

Question 13

We sometimes "signal" interest in someone without the use of words, which is part of how we establish a relationship with another person. How would an anthropologist describe our behavior?

Accepted Answer

A)  displacement 
B)  morphology 
C)  kinesics 
D)  paralanguage 
A)  displacement 
B)  morphology 
C)  kinesics 
D)  paralanguage

Question 14

Many animals, such as dolphins and great apes, communicate with each other through gestures and sounds. Human language utilizes sounds, gestures, and what?

Accepted Answer

A)  smell 
B)  symbols 
C)  calls 
D)  chemical trails 
A)  smell 
B)  symbols 
C)  calls 
D)  chemical trails

Question 15

What types of evidence have anthropologists drawn on to approximate when humans first began to use language? Using examples, analyze how genetic and archaeological information has been used to determine when the human capacity for speech evolved. How did language enhance the ability of humans to survive and adapt to inhospitable environments?

Accepted Answer

Students may discuss the cognitive and a

Question 16

The Hopi language has verb tenses that differ from those of English. Benjamin Whorf's linguistic research among the Hopi people suggested that this meant they have what?

Accepted Answer

A)  a worldview where past and present represent lived reality and the future is hypothetical 
B)  an ability to retain their cultural traditions by only having one dialect 
C)  a worldview that keeps past, present, and future as entirely separate concepts 
D)  the same conceptual idea of time as everyone else, with different ways of describing it 
A)  a worldview where past and present represent lived reality and the future is hypothetical 
B)  an ability to retain their cultural traditions by only having one dialect 
C)  a worldview that keeps past, present, and future as entirely separate concepts 
D)  the same conceptual idea of time as everyone else, with different ways of describing it

Question 17

In 1996, the Oakland School District proposed the use of Ebonics in the school system. What did the subsequent revision of that proposal suggest about African American English?

Accepted Answer

A)  African American English was considered a significant language development. 
B)  African American English was seen as a low-status language. 
C)  Ebonics was seen as not "African" enough. 
D)  African American English was seen as prestige language. 
A)  African American English was considered a significant language development. 
B)  African American English was seen as a low-status language. 
C)  Ebonics was seen as not "African" enough. 
D)  African American English was seen as prestige language.

Question 18

Why would a study of the "N-word" most likely be done using a sociolinguistic approach?

Accepted Answer

A)  Sociolinguistics studies the intersection between language and systems of power, such as race, class, and age. 
B)  Sociolinguistics is preferred in the study of the development of language over time, including its changes and variations. 
C)  This particular field of anthropology studies how social behavior is created by language. 
D)  Sociolinguistics studies the variation in languages between places. 
A)  Sociolinguistics studies the intersection between language and systems of power, such as race, class, and age. 
B)  Sociolinguistics is preferred in the study of the development of language over time, including its changes and variations. 
C)  This particular field of anthropology studies how social behavior is created by language. 
D)  Sociolinguistics studies the variation in languages between places.

Question 19

What can nonhuman primates teach us about the origins of human language? Describe the strategies researchers have used to understand primates' capacities for communications and what they have learned, as well as some of scholars' common critiques about this research.

Accepted Answer

Students should describe the current res

Question 20

What does Benjamin Whorf's research with the Hopi, a Native American group in the southwestern United States, suggest about language?

Accepted Answer

A)  The human brain is hardwired for organizing language in a universal manner. 
B)  Language creates different ways of thinking. 
C)  Language occurs independently of thought. 
D)  Thought occurs independently of language. 
A)  The human brain is hardwired for organizing language in a universal manner. 
B)  Language creates different ways of thinking. 
C)  Language occurs independently of thought. 
D)  Thought occurs independently of language.

American women are far more likely than men to distinguish between colors like teal and turquoise, or magenta and purple. What is this an example of?

What does Noam Chomsky's research propose about language?

What did anthropologist Laura Bohannan discover in her attempt to translate a classic text from English literature into Tiv?

Chinese, spoken by about 1.3 million people, is the most common native language in the world. At the same time, many Chinese students are sent abroad to English-speaking countries to learn English. Why do these students learn English at all?

What are the building blocks of language? Describe the elements that descriptive linguists use to analyze systems of language. What is the role of syntax and grammar in putting these building blocks together?

What would linguistic anthropologists label new words that have emerged during the digital age such as mouse, modem, download, and tweet?

What do linguists call small units of sound that carry meaning on their own?

Because few children grow up learning to speak the Lakota language, efforts have been made to preserve language samples and artifacts in tribal areas. One of the major efforts in use today is:

Anthropologists have shown that chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates are able to communicate about things not immediately present and events in the past or future. What aspect of human language does this describe?

According to the textbook, what is happening to human languages worldwide?

Which term is used to describe the extinction of languages that have very few speakers?

We sometimes "signal" interest in someone without the use of words, which is part of how we establish a relationship with another person. How would an anthropologist describe our behavior?

Many animals, such as dolphins and great apes, communicate with each other through gestures and sounds. Human language utilizes sounds, gestures, and what?

The Hopi language has verb tenses that differ from those of English. Benjamin Whorf's linguistic research among the Hopi people suggested that this meant they have what?

In 1996, the Oakland School District proposed the use of Ebonics in the school system. What did the subsequent revision of that proposal suggest about African American English?

Why would a study of the "N-word" most likely be done using a sociolinguistic approach?

What can nonhuman primates teach us about the origins of human language? Describe the strategies researchers have used to understand primates' capacities for communications and what they have learned, as well as some of scholars' common critiques about this research.

What does Benjamin Whorf's research with the Hopi, a Native American group in the southwestern United States, suggest about language?

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Exam 4: Language

American women are far more likely than men to distinguish between colors like teal and turquoise, or magenta and purple. What is this an example of?

What does Noam Chomsky's research propose about language?

What did anthropologist Laura Bohannan discover in her attempt to translate a classic text from English literature into Tiv?

Chinese, spoken by about 1.3 million people, is the most common native language in the world. At the same time, many Chinese students are sent abroad to English-speaking countries to learn English. Why do these students learn English at all?

What are the building blocks of language? Describe the elements that descriptive linguists use to analyze systems of language. What is the role of syntax and grammar in putting these building blocks together?

What would linguistic anthropologists label new words that have emerged during the digital age such as mouse, modem, download, and tweet?

What do linguists call small units of sound that carry meaning on their own?

Because few children grow up learning to speak the Lakota language, efforts have been made to preserve language samples and artifacts in tribal areas. One of the major efforts in use today is:

Anthropologists have shown that chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates are able to communicate about things not immediately present and events in the past or future. What aspect of human language does this describe?

According to the textbook, what is happening to human languages worldwide?

Which term is used to describe the extinction of languages that have very few speakers?

We sometimes "signal" interest in someone without the use of words, which is part of how we establish a relationship with another person. How would an anthropologist describe our behavior?

Many animals, such as dolphins and great apes, communicate with each other through gestures and sounds. Human language utilizes sounds, gestures, and what?

The Hopi language has verb tenses that differ from those of English. Benjamin Whorf's linguistic research among the Hopi people suggested that this meant they have what?

In 1996, the Oakland School District proposed the use of Ebonics in the school system. What did the subsequent revision of that proposal suggest about African American English?

Why would a study of the "N-word" most likely be done using a sociolinguistic approach?

What can nonhuman primates teach us about the origins of human language? Describe the strategies researchers have used to understand primates' capacities for communications and what they have learned, as well as some of scholars' common critiques about this research.

What does Benjamin Whorf's research with the Hopi, a Native American group in the southwestern United States, suggest about language?

Anthropology in a Global Age

Culture

Fieldwork and Ethnography

Race and Racism

Ethnicity and Nationalism

Gender

Sexuality

Kinship, Family, and Marriage

Class and Inequality

The Global Economy

Politics and Power

Religion

Health, Illness, and the Body

Art and Media

Filters