Q&A Hero

Q: Studies investigating differences in the way men and women talk are examples of sociolinguistics.

Q: Most English speakers recognize the phonetic contrast between the [ph] in pin and the [p] in spin.

Q: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that speakers of simple languages are unable to think in sophisticated ways.

Q: Historical linguists study similarities and differences between languages spoken today in order to make inferences about long-term linguistic change.

Q: A close relationship between languages does not necessarily mean that their speakers are biologically or culturally related.

Q: The term protolanguage refers to the limited communication systems of nonhuman primates.

Q: Nonhuman primate call systems demonstrate linguistic productivity, combining calls to produce new expressions.

Q: Discuss what anthropologists mean when they say that nonindustrial economies are embedded in society.

Q: Describe how economic specialization in industrial nations differs from specialization in nonindustrial societies.

Q: All human nonverbal communication is instinctive and thus not influenced by culture.

Q: Labov argued that all humans share a universal grammar.

Q: Syntax refers to the rules that dictate the order of words in a language.

Q: Focal vocabularies are found only in non-Western societies.

Q: Creole languages are commonly found in regions where different linguistic groups came into contact with one another.

Q: Language is transmitted through enculturation.

Q: Kinesics is the study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, and expressions.

Q: Historical linguists study linguistic performance by categorizing speakers as inadequate, competent, or highly proficient.

Q: The term diglossia refers to linguistic groups that use only two basic color terms (black and white or dark and light).

Q: The frequency with which people smile varies cross-culturally.

Q: Phonology is the study of speech sounds.

Q: AAVE is a distinct language.

Q: After being spoken for generations, pidgins may develop into A. focal vocabularies. B. syntaxes. C. protolanguages. D. creole languages. E. diglossias.

Q: Describe how people communicate without speaking.

Q: The Romance languages (e.g., French, Spanish) belong to the ________ language family. A. Mixe-Zoque B. Indo-European C. North Caucasian D. Dravidian E. Austro-Asiatic

Q: Which of these statements accurately describes the use of language by apes? A. "Only humans are capable of learning and using language." B. "Apes use American Sign Language in the wild." C. "Apes cannot be taught to use American Sign Language." D. "Only chimpanzees can learn American Sign Language." E. "Apes can learn American Sign Language and have shown the capacity for cultural transmission, productivity, and displacement."

Q: A mutation of the ________ may account for why humans have the capability for speech but chimpanzees do not. A. FOXP2 gene B. microcephalin gene C. hyoid D. lungs E. tongue

Q: Define focal vocabularies, and explain why they exist.

Q: One of Penelope Eckert's findings about California accents is that when people are and want to stay involved in their home community, they A. develop a unique accent. B. tend to adopt a speech pattern with less of an accent. C. copy the English they hear on the radio. D. tend to talk like locals. E. often develop extended versions of nonverbal communication among peer groups.

Q: List the three key characteristics of human language. Discuss whether call systems and ASL-using nonhuman primates display these characteristics.

Q: Identify the key structures of language, and explain why it is important to know and understand these features.

Q: Define the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Analyze the extent to which the hypothesis is valid.

Q: Analyze how socioeconomic, ethnic, and gender differences are reflected in language. Give specific examples.

Q: Define AAVE, and compare it to SE.

Q: Explain what historical linguists study, and discuss how historical linguistics is relevant to anthropology.

Q: Linguists believe that A. only 120 languages are now spoken in the world. B. the number of languages spoken in the world is increasing rapidly. C. nothing can be done to preserve linguistic diversity. D. all people should study English in order to facilitate cross-cultural communication. E. the world's linguistic diversity has been cut in half over the past 500 years.

Q: Minimal pairs are used to identify A. phonemes. B. phones. C. aspiration. D. allomorphs. E. bound morphemes.

Q: The study of sounds used in speech is A. historical linguistics. B. sociolinguistics. C. phonology. D. morphology. E. ebonics.

Q: The term ________ refers to languages that have descended from the same ancestral language. A. descendant languages B. sibling languages C. daughter languages D. brother languages E. protolanguages

Q: Sociolinguists study A. bipedalism. B. speech in its social context. C. the universal grammar of language. D. cognitive capacity for language. E. cross-cultural phonemic distinctions.

Q: ________ argued that all human languages have a common structural basis and that all humans have similar linguistic abilities. A. Edward Sapir B. Benjamin Lee Whorf C. William Labov D. Noam Chomsky E. Deborah Tannen

Q: In a stratified society, people who do not speak the prestige dialect still tend to accept the prestige as standard or superior, a quality referred to as A. diglossia. B. creolized. C. symbolic domination. D. hypercorrected. E. style shifting.

Q: Most professional linguists regard AAVE as a(n) A. protolanguage. B. distinct language. C. linguistic anomaly. D. dialect of English. E. inferior version of English.

Q: Deborah Tannen's research on the speech habits of men and women has revealed that A. there are no discernible differences between the way men and women use language. B. men tend to make eye contact more frequently than women. C. women tend to recite information in an attempt to solidify their position in a social hierarchy. D. men rely more on nonverbal gestures than do women. E. women tend to use language to build social connections with others.

Q: In his study of New York department store employees, Labov found that A. /r/ was pronounced most frequently by workers in the upper-middle-class store (Saks). B. /r/ was pronounced most frequently by workers in the middle-class store (Macy's). C. /r/ was pronounced most frequently by workers in the lower-middle-class store (S. Klein's). D. workers in all three stores pronounced /r/ with the same frequency. E. none of the workers pronounced /r/.

Q: ________ refers to all of a language's morphemes and their meanings. A. Syntax B. Lexicon C. Ethnosemantics D. Ethnoscience E. Phonology

Q: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis argues that A. the degree of cultural complexity is related to the effectiveness of languages as systems of communication. B. the languages people speak influence the way they think. C. because the Hopi do not use three verb tenses, they have no concept of time. D. culture determines what language is able to describe. E. all humans are endowed with the ability to use language.

Q: Which statement about nonhuman primate calls is NOT true? A. "Nonhuman primate calls occur in response to environmental stimuli." B. "Nonhuman primate calls are able to demonstrate displacement." C. "Nonhuman primate calls are automatic and cannot be combined." D. "Nonhuman primate calls vary in intensity and duration." E. "Nonhuman primate call systems produce a limited number of sounds."

Q: Regular shifting between "high" and "low" variants of a language is A. displacement. B. diglossia. C. semantics. D. kinesics. E. lexicon.

Q: The study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, and expressions is A. ethnosemantics. B. biosemantics. C. protolinguistics. D. phonemics. E. kinesics.

Q: ________ refers to the arrangement and order of words in phrases and sentences. A. Syntax B. Lexicon C. Grammar D. Phonology E. Morphology

Q: The study of how sounds combine to form words and their meaningful parts is A. phonology. B. syntax. C. morphology. D. lexicon. E. grammar.

Q: Linguistic displacement is the A. ability to use the rules of language to produce entirely new expressions. B. lexical difference between a protolanguage and a daughter language. C. ability to respond to environmental stimuli. D. linguistic dimension of culture shock. E. ability to talk about things that are not present.

Q: ________ refers to the specialized set of terms and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups. A. Syntactical vocabulary B. Spatial vocabulary C. Focal vocabulary D. Vernacular vocabulary E. Temporal vocabulary

Q: Berlin and Kay's study of color terminology (1969/1992) revealed that A. women tend to use more color terms and men tend to use fewer color terms. B. color terminology was least developed in areas with a history of using dyes and artificial coloring. C. all languages include sixteen basic color terms. D. the languages of cultivators in Papua New Guinea and foragers in Australia had more basic color terms than did European and Asian languages. E. there are only two basic color terms, black and white.

Q: The term ________ refers to the minimal sound contrasts that distinguish meaning in a language. A. morphemes B. phonemes C. syntax D. grammar E. diglossia

Q: The word pair ________ is a minimal pair in Standard American English. A. pit/bit B. fat/get C. goof/off D. ped/pedal E. gal/legal

Q: In the ________ region of the United States, people do not speak with an accent. A. New England B. West Coast C. Southeast D. Midwest E. None of these is correct, as regional speech variations exist throughout the United States.

Q: The emic perspective focuses on how local people think.

Q: Life history accounts can illustrate individual diversity and how different people deal with the same problems.

Q: Interpretive anthropology presents ethnography as a dialogue between the anthropologist and one or more native informants.

Q: Anthropologists today realize that no culture is isolated and that the ethnographic present is an unrealistic concept.

Q: Sampling and statistical techniques are tools first used by sociologists.

Q: Compared to questionnaires, interview schedules tend to be more indirect and impersonal.

Q: Good key cultural consultants generally end up recording most of the data needed to write an ethnography.

Q: The distinction between emic and etic perspectives does not apply to American culture.

Q: Traditionally, sociologists worked in large, industrial Western nations, while anthropologists focused on smaller, nonindustrial societies.

Q: Longitudinal ethnographic research is the long-term study of a particular culture or society, frequently based on repeated visits.

Q: Anthropologists need to get permission from the community they are studying only when they intend to take photographs or make recordings.

Q: The key cultural consultant provides the etic view of a culture.

Q: The Human Terrain System is a GIS-based program to map the location of all living communities on Earth.

Q: It is important to establish rapport quickly to be an effective participant observer.

Q: Discuss how globalization can affect anthropological research.

Q: An anthropologist should only have one key cultural consultant for the culture he or she is studying.

Q: Explain participant observation, and contrast it with other research techniques.

Q: Define the genealogical method. Explain why it is important for anthropologists to gather genealogical data.

Q: Interviews can help establish rapport with community members.

Q: List the differences between questionnaires and interview schedules. Describe the advantage an ethnographer could gain by using an interview schedule instead of a questionnaire.

Q: Define the difference between emic and etic perspectives. Determine why an anthropologist might want to use both strategies when conducting ethnographic fieldwork.

Q: Anthropologists have obligations to their scholarly field, to the wider society and culture, and to the human species, other species, and the environment.

Q: Anthropologists who study small populations must employ sampling and statistical techniques to analyze their data.