Sample exam questions: Language and Culture
The following is a sampling of the 25 questions that will appear on the final exam
1.
Human languages are different from animal call systems because human languages
A.
use the voice
C. use hand gestures
2.
B.
D.
combine sounds into words and sentences.
are genetically programmed.
Unlike cows and horses, monkeys and apes constantly make sounds. This was analyzed
in class as a result of
A.
B.
C.
D.
the structure of the primate brain.
the need to use sound in the trees, where vision is blocked by leaves and branches
the special dangers that threaten primates on the ground
special features of the brains of mammals.
3.
Tone differs from intonation because different tones create a change in _____
A. meaning
B. vocabulary C. pitch D. consonants
4.
The basic unit of meaning in language is the
A. phoneme
B.sentence
C. alphabet
D. morpheme
5.
Consonants differ from vowels in that consonants
A.. pass through the vocal chords
B. are found in every language
C . entail some blockage inside the mouth
D. are not found in every language
6.
A polygenetic focus on language argues that.
A.
speaking many languages increases intelligence.
B
language is controlled not by one gene, but by many different genes
C/
language was independently invented by different human groups..
D.
all languages today descended from one original parent language.
7.
Chinese kin terminology calls your daughter’s child an outsider. We suggested in class
that this may be linked to a past history of a society dominated by
A. patrilineal clans
B. bias against women
C. Buddhist monks
D.. foreign soldiers .
8.
We examined the terms “murder”, “execute”, and “assassinate” to show how human
languages can build ___________ into their vocabularies.
A. different forms of violence
B. moral and social judgments
C. verbs and nouns
D. foreign words