MH Language and Linguistics 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which phenomenon describes the process by which a word's meaning broadens over time, as in 'dog' once referring only to one breed?
- Semantic narrowing
- Semantic broadening (Correct answer)
- Amelioration
- Pejoration
Correct answer: Semantic broadening
Semantic broadening (or generalization) occurs when a word's meaning expands to encompass a wider range of referents over time.
Question 2: In Chomsky's transformational generative grammar, what is the term for the abstract underlying structure of a sentence before transformational rules apply?
- Surface structure
- Deep structure (Correct answer)
- Phrase structure
- Logical form
Correct answer: Deep structure
Deep structure is the abstract syntactic level that represents the core meaning relationships of a sentence before transformations produce the surface structure.
Question 3: Which branch of linguistics studies how social factors such as age, gender, and class influence language variation?
- Psycholinguistics
- Neurolinguistics
- Sociolinguistics (Correct answer)
- Computational linguistics
Correct answer: Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics examines the relationship between language and society, including how social variables affect language use and variation.
Question 4: What term describes a pidgin language that has become the native language of a speech community with expanded grammar and vocabulary?
- Lingua franca
- Creole (Correct answer)
- Dialect
- Koine
Correct answer: Creole
A creole develops when a pidgin becomes nativized, acquiring greater grammatical complexity as it becomes the primary language of a community.
Question 5: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (linguistic relativity) argues that language primarily:
- Is innate and universal across all humans
- Shapes or influences thought and perception (Correct answer)
- Derives exclusively from social imitation
- Reflects objective reality without distortion
Correct answer: Shapes or influences thought and perception
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis posits that the language one speaks influences or determines how one perceives and categorizes the world.
Question 6: Which concept in pragmatics refers to what a speaker implies but does not literally state, as theorized by Grice?
- Entailment
- Presupposition
- Conversational implicature (Correct answer)
- Semantic prosody
Correct answer: Conversational implicature
Conversational implicature, developed by H.P. Grice, refers to meaning conveyed beyond the literal words through cooperative conversational principles.
Question 7: What is the term for a sound that is produced with a complete closure in the vocal tract followed by a sudden release of air?
- Fricative
- Affricate
- Plosive (stop) (Correct answer)
- Nasal
Correct answer: Plosive (stop)
Plosives (stops) are consonants produced by completely blocking airflow and then releasing it, as in /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/.
MH Language and Linguistics 2
Which phenomenon describes the process by which a word's meaning broadens over time, as in 'dog' once referring only to one breed?