Exam 5: Language

__________ lends support to Chomsky's model of language acquisition.

Noam Chomsky suggests that humans are born with a brain prewired to enable us to acquire languages easily. This "prewiring" is referred to as __________.

The word "lower" contains __________.

It has been suggested that major cultural advances, cultural evolution, and human creativity could not have occurred before adequate language ability evolved.

How do anthropologists understand linguistic change? What factors create change in a language? How is this measured? What can historical linguistics tell us about how languages evolve? Discuss glottochronology and the concept of protolanguages in your answer.

Both animals and humans are able to communicate about things or events that are not immediately present.

The idea that each language filters certain perceptions and determines how we perceive reality is called __________.

Why are mirror neurons likely to have played a role in the evolution of human language?

Linguistic anthropologists study phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

The ability to build an infinite number of sentences within sentences is known as __________.

How is language acquired? What evidence is there for an innate, universal grammar? Draw on at least two examples mentioned in your text.

How do linguists understand language from the level of sound systems through that of words, grammar, and meaning? Illustrate each level of analysis with an example.

The flexibility of human language and the ability to create new sentences are associated with the feature of __________.

__________ are used in societies that maintain marked social hierarchies.

Linguistic anthropologists find that people who are forced to abandon their native language and culture will __________.

More than 70,000 languages are known to have existed.

How do animal communication systems differ from human language and communication systems? Explain the features of human language that differentiate it from other forms of communication.

Glottochronology is the study of the interrelationships among the vocal tract, glottis, larynx, and pharynx in the production of sound.

"Did I hear you say that there are four pounds of sulfur in the box?" versus "Did I heah ya say that there are foah pounds of sulfuh in the box?" is an example of __________.

According to some linguistic researchers, how did Ebonics originate?