Chapter 3

Question 1

code switching

Answer 1

the practice of keeping particular forms of speech separate in one’s life.

Question 2

creole

Answer 2

type of language formed when speakers of different languages combine their languages.

Question 3

descriptive linguistics

Answer 3

the study of specific features of individual languages, such as patterns of grammar and sounds.

Question 4

design feature

Answer 4

an element that is common to all languages.

Question 5

diachronic

Answer 5

studies that focus on change over time.

Question 6

dialect

Answer 6

distinct but mutually intelligible forms of a single language.

Question 7

ethnosemantics (or ethnoscience)

Answer 7

the study of the culturally and linguistically specific ways people make sense of the world.

Question 8

grammar

Answer 8

the rules that people use to organize their speech.

Question 9

historical linguistics

Answer 9

the study of how languages develop and change over time.

Question 10

kinesics

Answer 10

body language

Question 11

language

Answer 11

a system of verbal and nonverbal symbols used to communicate.

Question 12

language family

Answer 12

a group of languages that derive from a common ancestor language.

Question 13

language hierarchy

Answer 13

the system by which some languages or dialects have ranked political, economic, and social status.

Question 14

language theory

Answer 14

an explanation of the general nature of language.

Question 15

lexicon

Answer 15

all the morphemes of a particular language.

Question 16

linguistic morphology

Answer 16

the patterns and structures of words in a language.

Question 17

linguistic nationalism

Answer 17

the use of language to promote nationalist ideologies.

Question 18

morphemes

Answer 18

units of language that carry meaning.

Question 19

official language

Answer 19

language sanctioned by a ruling body.

Question 20

paralanguage

Answer 20

certain qualities applied to particular words, such as volume, tone, or emphasis.

Question 21

philology

Answer 21

the study of societies through their texts.

Question 22

phonemes

Answer 22

the sounds available in any particular language.

Question 23

phonemics

Answer 23

the study of specific structures and sounds in a particular language.

Question 24

phonetics

Answer 24

the study of all possible structures and sounds humans use in language.

Question 25

phonology

Answer 25

the study of language sounds, including phonemics and phonetics.

Question 26

pidgin

Answer 26

language formed when speakers in a multilingual context use a simplified form of one language.

Question 27

protolanguage

Answer 27

the ancient language from which all the members of a particular language family are derived.

Question 28

regional dialect

Answer 28

an accent and word choice related to geography.

Question 29

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Answer 29

a hypothesis that posits that language shapes people’s perceptions, thoughts, and views of reality.

Question 30

social dialect

Answer 30

a way of speaking connected to class.

Question 31

social register

Answer 31

a way of speaking related to a specific setting.

Question 32

sociolinguistics

Answer 32

the study of how language is used by people in society.

Question 33

structuralism

Answer 33

a theory of language that says all languages share an underlying binary structure.

Question 34

symbol

Answer 34

something that stands for something else.

Question 35

synchronic

Answer 35

studies that focus on a given moment in time.

Question 36

syntax

Answer 36

the order in which morphemes appear.