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Historical Linguistics - Test
Contributed by: Squires
  • 1. What is the study of language change over time called?
A) Syntax
B) Phonology
C) Descriptive Linguistics
D) Historical Linguistics
  • 2. What is the process by which two languages influence each other called?
A) Language contact
B) Language isolation
C) Language acquisition
D) Language extinction
  • 3. Which ancient civilization is known for leaving behind the Rosetta Stone, aiding in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs?
A) Ancient China
B) Ancient Mesopotamia
C) Ancient Egypt
D) Ancient Greece
  • 4. Which language family does Spanish belong to?
A) Afro-Asiatic
B) Sino-Tibetan
C) Dravidian
D) Indo-European
  • 5. Which language is considered a linguistic isolate?
A) French
B) Chinese
C) Basque
D) Swahili
  • 6. What is the name of the language family that includes English, German, and Dutch?
A) Slavic
B) Celtic
C) Germanic
D) Romance
  • 7. Which language family is known for its click consonants?
A) Khoisan
B) Uralic
C) Indo-European
D) Austronesian
  • 8. What is the name for the study of the origins and history of words?
A) Etymology
B) Morphology
C) Syntax
D) Pragmatics
  • 9. Which principle posits that the processes of language change observed today were also at work in the past?
A) Internal reconstruction
B) Synchronic principle
C) Comparative method
D) Uniformitarian principle
  • 10. Who made the distinction between synchronic and diachronic linguistics?
A) Ferdinand de Saussure
B) Roman Jakobson
C) Noam Chomsky
D) Edward Sapir
  • 11. What is less-standard technique used by some linguists that is often regarded as unreliable?
A) Internal reconstruction
B) Comparative method
C) Synchronic analysis
D) Mass lexical comparison
  • 12. What is the primary focus of morphology in historical linguistics?
A) Analyzing the evolutionary origin of language.
B) Comparing changes in syntax between unrelated languages.
C) Formulating rules that model word-formation patterns over time.
D) Studying sentence structure and principles for constructing sentences.
  • 13. What is one of the key areas of study in historical linguistics involving tracing language evolution?
A) Etymology
B) Reconstruction of ancestral languages
C) Psycholinguistics
D) Synchronic analysis
  • 14. What evidence do historical linguists use to hypothesize about groupings and movements of peoples?
A) Genetic evidence
B) Historical records
C) Archaeological evidence
D) Linguistic evidence
  • 15. How can languages be related besides genetic descent?
A) By being spoken in the same geographic region.
B) By having similar writing systems.
C) By sharing a common vocabulary.
D) Through convergence and borrowing.
  • 16. What is the main concern of historical linguistics?
A) Synchronic analysis
B) Comparative philology
C) Diachronic analysis
D) Psycholinguistics
  • 17. Why is a purely-synchronic linguistics not possible for any period before the invention of the gramophone?
A) Gramophones recorded only spoken language.
B) Sociolinguists did not study older periods.
C) Written records always lag behind speech in reflecting linguistic developments.
D) There were no written languages.
  • 18. What is an example of a Germanic strong verb that shows irregularity in synchronic analysis?
A) Run → ran → run
B) Jump → jumped
C) Walk → walked
D) Sing ↔ sang ↔ sung
  • 19. What is the approximate time-depth limit often assumed for linguistic methods?
A) 20,000 years
B) 15,000 years
C) 10,000 years
D) 5,000 years
  • 20. What type of analysis views linguistic phenomena only at a given time?
A) Comparative method
B) Synchronic analysis
C) Diachronic analysis
D) Internal reconstruction
  • 21. What does a diachronic analysis reveal about strong verbs like 'sing'?
A) They are remnants of a fully regular system of internal vowel changes.
B) They follow the same pattern as weak verbs.
C) They are irregular due to modern language rules.
D) They were always considered irregular.
  • 22. What is the difference between convergence and genetic descent?
A) There is no difference; both terms mean the same thing.
B) Convergence is about phonetic changes, while genetic descent is about vocabulary.
C) Convergence involves borrowing, while genetic descent implies a common origin.
D) Convergence results in new languages, while genetic descent does not.
  • 23. What can lead to cross-relating of languages?
A) Only convergence through borrowing.
B) Both convergence through borrowing and genetic descent.
C) Only genetic descent.
D) The use of similar alphabets.
  • 24. What method is primarily used to establish language families and reconstruct proto-languages?
A) Synchronic analysis
B) Mass lexical comparison
C) Comparative method
D) Internal reconstruction
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