AP Human Geography
Chapter 5: Language (Practice MC Exam)
1. Which of the following is an essential element in the
definition of a language?
a. vocabulary.
b. grammar.
c. alphabet.
d. vocalization.
2. Geographers study
a. the distribution of languages.
b. how languages diffuse.
c. how languages change and even become extinct.
d. how language contributes to making places unique.
e. All of these.
Do not write on this page. Please Use Answer Blank.
7. If peoples with different languages have consistent spatial
interaction, __________ can take place.
a. language homogenization
b. language convolution
c. language convergence
d. the conquest theory
e. the dispersal hypothesis
3. A language family is a
a. collection of languages related through a common
ancestor
b. collection of similar dialects
c. standard language
d. collection of Germanic languages
e. a group of languages which share the same
orthography
8. (AP Exam) If four languages have similar words for
numbers and the names of fish, but different names for a
certain disease, what might be concluded about the time
at which the disease first diffused?
a. The disease spread among a population that later
divided and evolved into four different languages.
b. The population divided and evolved into the four
different languages, and then the disease spread.
c. The disease spread to two different populations that
later divided into two different languages.
d. The disease and language spread to four different
regions at the same time at the same rate.
e. There can be no conclusions drawn about the initial
diffusion of the disease based on language.
4. Which of the following sequences represents the genetic
classification of languages from the largest to the smallest
divisions?
a. family-language-branch-group-dialect-accent
b. family-group-branch-language-accent-dialect
c. dialect-accent-language-group-branch-family
d. family-branch-language-group-accent-dialect
e. family-branch-group-language-dialect-accent
9. The large number of individual languages documented in
Africa has resulted primarily from
a. introduction of many different languages by the
colonial powers.
b. colonial administration of native lands.
c. thousands of years of isolation between tribal groups.
d. frequent migration by the different tribal groups.
e. repeated invasions by outsiders.
5. The main difference between languages in the same
family, branch, or group is how
a. similar the cultures of the speakers of each language
are.
b. closely the speakers of each language live to each
other.
c. recently in time the languages were once the same.
d. all of the above
10. When groups of speakers of a single language are isolated
from each other, each group may develop
a. new grammar rules.
b. different pronunciations of words.
c. unique vocabulary.
d. all of the above.
e. A and B only.
6. Which of the following languages probably represents its
own language family?
a. Japanese
b. Greek
c. Georgian
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
11. The Italian language varies significantly between Milan,
Rome; Naples, and Palermo. These varieties are examples
of
a. pidgins.
b. lingua franca.
c. language groups.
d. dialects.
e. idioms.
12. Which of the following pairs of languages are not
mutually intelligible?
a. Urdu and Hindi
b. Danish and Norwegian
c. Serbian and Croatian
d. German and Dutch
13. A pidgin language
a. has a limited vocabulary.
b. has few, if any, grammar rules.
c. is a simplified language based on two separate
languages.
d. is not the first language of any person.
e. all of the above.
14. A pidgin language
a. stems from folk culture.
b. is spread by popular culture.
c. has no native speakers.
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
19. Latin octo (eight) became Italian otto, Spanish ocho, and
French huit. This is an example of ____________ over
time in a language family.
a. deterioration
b. sound shift
c. dialect development
d. isogloss shift
20. The geographic study of the distribution of languages
provides a good example of
a. the interplay between globalization and local
diversity.
b. the role and spread of religion across much of the
world.
c. political conflicts that arise due to ethnic tensions.
d. the diffusion of folk culture in different areas of the
world.
15. Convergence processes yielding a synthesis of several
languages produce a pidgin language. When this language
becomes the first language of a population it is referred
to as a
a. dialect
b. Creole language
c. language subfamily
d. lingua franca
e. corrupted language
16. When Dutch traders and Japanese traders meet, they
often use English to conduct their business transactions.
This use of English is an example of a(n)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
pidgin language
creole language
official language
lingua franca
monolingualism
17. Vernacular language
a. is spoken mostly by the lower class.
b. has become synonymous with less education.
c. has relaxed grammar rules.
d. is dynamic and always changing.
e. all of the above.
18. The geographical boundary between the linguistic use of
pail and bucket is called __________
a. a linguistic break.
b. a fault line.
c. a dialect intrusion.
d. an isoline.
e. an isogloss.
Answer questions 21-25 based on the map above in which
language families are marked as shaded areas.
21. Altaic is shaded area
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
22. Dravidian is shaded area
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
23. Amerindian is shaded area
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
24. Niger-Congo is shaded area
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
25. Guarani and Quechua are important languages in which
family shaded on the map?
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
26. Which of the following language families became widely
dispersed due to trans-oceanic migrations?
I. Uralic
II. Indo-European
III. Sino-Tibetan
IV. Austronesian
a. I and II
b. III and IV
c. I and III
d. II and IV
e. II, III, and IV
27. The second-largest language family is
a. Afro-Asiatic.
b. Indo-European.
c. Dravidian.
d. Sino-Tibetan.
e. Austronesian.
28. Russian is part of what language branch?
a. Indo-Iranian
b. Altaic
c. Romance
d. Balto-Slavic
e. Germanic
29. (AP Exam) Which of the following areas has the greatest
linguistic fragmentation?
a. Korea
b. Scandinavia
c. Caucasus
d. Argentina
e. Quebec
30. From the list below, choose the country with the most
languages spoken.
a. China
b. Brazil
c. India
d. Pakistan
e. Canada
31. Which regions have the most and fewest languages that
are under threat of extinction?
a. Most: Asia; Fewest: The Americas
b. Most: Africa; Fewest: Europe
c. Most: The Pacific; Fewest: Asia
d. Most: The Americas; Fewest: Europe
e. Most: Africa; Fewest: The Pacific
32. Which of the following is true about language
extinctions?
a. They happen suddenly and without warning.
b. They are usually the result of genocide.
c. There could be several thousand over the next
century.
d. They are increasingly rare.
e. They are unrelated to cultural imperialism.
33. Which is the world's primary lingua franca language?
a. Mandarin Chinese
b. Russian
c. English
d. Spanish
e. Hindi
34. The extinction of many languages once spoken in Peru is a
result of
a. chain migration
b. relocation diffusion
c. political dominance and conversion
d. contagious diffusion
e. popular culture revival
35. Which of the following statements, regarding the number
of languages, is true?
a. There are fewer languages spoken today than there
were 1000 years ago.
b. Due to creolization, there are more languages spoken
today than at any time before.
c. Languages increasingly use divergent orthographies.
d. Due to widespread illiteracy, most people today speak
dying languages.
e. Due to interest in reviving dead languages, new
languages are spoken every year.
36. Acculturation is a common cause of
a. illiteracy.
b. language extinction.
c. assimilation.
d. creolization.
e. cultural diffusion.
37. According to acculturation, how many generations on
average does it take for an immigrant family to lose its
primary language?
a. One generation
b. Two generations
c. Three generations
d. Four generations
e. They never lose their primary language.
38. Globalization is __________ the world's linguistic
heritage.
a. not affecting
b. expanding
c. shrinking
d. enhancing
e. adding subtypes to
39. An example of an extinct language is:
a. Gothic
b. Hebrew
c. Cornish
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
40. Which of the following is a rare example of a revived
language?
a. Swahili.
b. Hebrew.
c. Latin.
d. Greek.
e. Celtic.
41. The two most important languages in South America are
a. Dutch and English
b. English and Spanish
c. French and Spanish
d. Portuguese and Spanish
e. Portuguese and French
42. Urdu is the most important language of
a. Iran.
b. Pakistan.
c. India.
d. Sri Lanka.
e. Bangladesh.
43. Indo-European, Amerindian, and other indigenous
languages are found in __________ .
a. North and South America.
b. South America.
c. Europe and North America.
d. India and Europe.
e. India, Europe, and the Americas.
44. The greatest concentration of linguistic diversity on earth
is in
a. Amazonia.
b. the Congo.
c. Madagascar.
d. New Guinea.
e. Mexico.
45. Which of the following is a good example of an isolated
language?
a. Hebrew
b. Denglish
c. Romanian
d. Basque
46. When people who speak a given language migrate to a
different location and become isolated from other
members of their tribe
a. their language usually shows very little change even
over a long period of time
b. they immediately develop a literary tradition
c. isolation usually results in the differentiation of a
single language into separate forms
d. they lose their linguistic abilities over time
e. new orthographies must be developed to deal with
new neighbors
47. The linguistic map of Nigeria reflects extreme
fragmentation with nearly ____ languages spoken.
a. 15
b. 25
c. 200
d. 400
48. Nigeria chose __________ as its official language upon
independence.
a. northern Hausa
b. southwestern Yoruba
c. southeastern Ibo
d. English
49. The commonality of Indo-European languages among
official languages across Africa is mostly a result of
a. ancient migrations of Indo-European speakers
b. cultural convergence
c. recent migrations of large numbers of Europeans to
Africa
d. historic migrations of large numbers of Europeans to
Africa
e. colonial languages spreading among native leadership
50. The most important language family in Sub-Saharan
Africa is
a. Khoisan
b. Niger-Congo
c. Nilo-Saharan
d. Afro-Asiatic
e. Malayo-Polynesian
51. African languages are distinguished by the fact that
a. most have a literary tradition.
b. even the most important language family is spoken by
only a small percentage of Africans.
c. linguists continue to add newly discovered languages
to the African list.
d. none are spoken by more than one million people.
e. most belong to the Nilo-Saharan language family.
52. What language is known as the lingua franca of Eastern
Africa?
a. Hindi
b. English
c. French
d. Swahili
e. Zulu
53. Spain, Morocco, and Pakistan share commonalities in
cultural landscape features such as architecture,
vocabulary, and place-names due to the influence of what
language and culture?
a. French
b. British
c. Spanish
d. Arabic
e. Roman
54. The image above shows an example of a(n)
a. pinyin
b. isoline
c. ideogram
d. shatter belt
e. isolated language
55. One culture that uses an ideographic method of writing is
a. India.
b. China.
c. Arabic.
d. English.
e. Spanish.
56. Problems with the Chinese ideographic writing systems
include
a. many symbols no longer have meaning.
b. in order to be literate, a person must memorize
thousands of symbols.
c. each dialect has its own symbols for writing.
d. each symbol must correspond with the pronunciation
of the word it represents.
e. all of the above.
57. The language spoken by the greatest number of native
speakers in the world is
a. Mandarin.
b. English.
c. Hindi.
d. Cantonese.
e. Spanish.
58. Which of the following European countries do NOT speak
languages that belong to the Indo European language
family?
a. Estonia
b. Finland
c. Hungary
d. all of these
59. What do the languages of English, Spanish, and Hindi
have in common?
a. They are all part of a major religious system.
b. They are all spoken in the same countries.
c. All three derive from the Afro-Asiatic language family.
d. All three are spoken where they are due to
colonialism.
e. All three are in the Indo-European language family.
60. (AP Exam) The Indo-European language family includes
the major languages of Europe and those dominant in all
the following regions EXCEPT
a. Russia
b. Northern India
c. Iran
d. Eastern and Southern Australia
e. Central Asia
61. Approximately what percentage of the world speaks IndoEuropean languages?
a. 10%
b. 25%
c. 50%
d. 75%
e. 90%
62. The four most frequently spoken branches of IndoEuropean include all but
a. Romance.
b. Balto-Slavic.
c. Celtic.
d. Indo-Iranian.
e. Germanic
63. The two theories of the Proto-Indo European language
dispersal through Europe are the conquest theory and the
________ theory.
a. agriculture
b. migration
c. trade routes
d. missionary
e. technology
64. Subsequent migrations and empire building caused the
decline and marginalization of this subfamily which had
brought Indo-European languages to Europe 3,000 years
ago.
a. Romance
b. Germanic
c. Celtic
d. Turkic
65. A Celtic language is the official language in only one
country. Which is it?
a. United Kingdom
b. Ireland
c. France
d. Iceland
e. Wales
66. Celtic languages
a. have been revived in some parts of the British Isles.
b. are still spoken by people in France.
c. were threatened by extinction in England.
d. have an extensive body of literature.
e. all of the above
67. All of the following are Latin-based Romance languages
except
a. English.
b. Spanish.
c. Romanian
d. Italian.
e. Portuguese.
68. English is part of which language family?
a. Germanic
b. Romance
c. West Germanic
d. Indo-European
e. North Germanic
69. English is part of which language branch?
a. West Germanic
b. North Germanic
c. Indo-European
d. Austronesian
e. Germanic
70. English is part of which language group?
a. North Germanic
b. Semitic
c. Indo-European
d. Germanic
e. West Germanic
71. Modern English is a co-mingling of
a. English spoken by the commoners and that of the
Normans
b. Celtic language and common English
c. Celtic language and Norman language
d. the language of the Angles and that of the Jutes
e. the Language of the Saxons and that of the Angles
72. Which statement about the English language is correct?
a. Worldwide, there are three times as many native
speakers of English as second language speakers.
b. It is a member of the Latin language branch.
c. It has been largely influenced by the French language.
d. It has only two separate dialects: British and
American.
e. It is the official language of the United States.
73. American English has adopted extensive vocabulary from
which of the following languages?
a. Spanish language.
b. French language.
c. Yiddish language.
d. Native American languages.
e. All of the above.
74. Differences between American and British English include
all of the following EXCEPT
a. different pronunciation of words.
b. different spelling of words.
c. different vocabulary for some objects.
d. different language of origin.
e. all of the above.
75. Early English was influenced by all of the following groups
except the
a. Basques.
b. Vikings.
c. Angles.
d. French.
e. Saxons.
76. Most English-speaking countries around the world speak
British English because
a. American English is not considered to be a form of
proper English.
b. American English is considered vulgar by most
educated people.
c. most people do not like Americans, so they refuse to
copy them.
d. British colonized many areas around the world.
e. all of the above.
77. Both the Angles and the Normans contributed to the
development of the English language because they
a. spoke Germanic languages
b. invaded England
c. spoke languages derived from Latin
d. diffused English around the world.
e. came from Germany originally
78. Germanic invaders of England included which tribe?
a. Saxons
b. Angles
c. Jutes
d. Normans
e. A, B, and C
79. The first speakers of the language that evolved into
English were tribes that lived in present-day
a. France.
b. United States.
c. Switzerland.
d. Italy.
e. Denmark.
80. Dialects developed within England primarily because
a. different Germanic invaders settled in different
regions.
b. commerce developed more slowly in England than on
the European continent.
c. British Received Pronunciation became the standard
dialect.
d. the Viking invaders did not remain long in England.
e. the Normans invaded from the south.
81. BRP is considered to be “standard English.” What do the
letters stand for?
a. British Received Pronunciation
b. Basic Regular Program
c. British Regulated Pronoun
d. Bonded Receipt for People
e. Basic Register of Pronouncement
82. Which of the following is FALSE of the form of English
known as BRP?
a. it is, officially, the standard form of the language
b. it originated in Oxford and Cambridge
c. nonstandard forms include Ebonics and Latin
d. there is a great deal of global difference in dialect
forms
e. the American dialect was purposefully differentiated
from BRP
83. The most widely used and diffused Indo-European
language in the world today is:
a. English
b. German
c. Spanish
d. French
e. Basque
84. Which statement about the diffusion of the English and
Chinese languages is true?
a. English has diffused worldwide, while Chinese is
spoken mostly in China.
b. English is spoken in only the United Kingdom and the
United States, while Chinese is spoken all over East
Asia.
c. English and Chinese are both spoken worldwide as
lingua franca languages.
d. The number of English speakers is declining, while the
number of Chinese speakers is steadily increasing.
e. All of the above.
85. The language most widely used as a second language by
hundreds of millions of people in India, Africa and
elsewhere is
a. Spanish.
b. French.
c. Arabic.
d. English.
86. Which statement best describes the use of English on the
Internet?
a. English has become more dominant as the most
common language on the Internet.
b. The number of English-speaking Internet users
continues to be above 50%.
c. Different Internets exist for most other widely spoken
languages, like Chinese, Japanese, and Russian.
d. English has become less dominant but is still the
leading Internet language.
87. All of the following are true statements about the English
language EXCEPT
a. in the next couple of decades, the number of
secondary and tertiary speakers will outnumber the
number of primary speakers.
b. it is the dominant primary language across the globe.
c. it is the most widely used language of the Internet.
d. it is generally considered the language of science.
e. even in other countries, much advertising exists in
English.
88. ________ is the official language in 56 countries.
a. Mandarin
b. French
c. Spanish
d. Swahili
e. English
89. Two billion people live in country where ________ is the
official language
a. Mandarin
b. French
c. Spanish
d. Swahili
e. English
90. Monolingual countries, in which only one language is
spoken, are few in number. Which of the following is not
one of these countries?
a. Poland
b. North Korea
c. Lesotho
d. Argentina
91. Predominantly monolingual states include: __________ .
a. Japan
b. Uruguay
c. Denmark
d. Lesotho
e. All of these.
92. Problems with multi-lingual states include
a. increased costs for printing government signs and
literature in multiple languages.
b. antagonism between speakers of the different
languages.
c. confusion, as some place names are identified
differently in the different languages.
d. all of the above.
e. A and B only.
93. Which statement about official languages is true?
a. Official languages are always spoken by the majority
of citizens of a country.
b. Official languages are the language of the largest
cultural group of a country.
c. Each country can only have one official language.
d. Official languages are used by the government for use
in its daily business.
e. All of the above.
94. In technically advanced societies there is likely to be
a. a standard language.
b. many basic languages.
c. limited expansion of language.
d. standard pronunciation.
95. Which development helped with the rise of standard
forms of languages beginning in the fourteenth century?
a. invention of the printing press
b. agricultural revolution
c. Celtic migrations
d. fall of the Roman Empire
96. Which of the following European countries has a rather
sharp division between Flemish speakers in the north and
Walloon speakers in the south?
a. the Netherlands
b. Belgium
c. Denmark
d. Andorra
97. Which of the following countries has not passed a
national law based on protecting a language?
a. Canada
b. United States
c. Belgium
d. France
e. Romania
98. The French government has _________ to protect French
language and culture.
a. banned foreign words in advertising and on radio and
television
b. established the Académie Française to standardize
the language
c. passed a law levying fines on those using foreign
terms
d. all of the above
99. Cultural groups often work to preserve and protect their
languages
a. because oral history will be lost if the language is not
preserved.
b. because language is an essential part of a culture's
identity.
c. as a reaction against folk culture forces.
d. all of the above.
e. A and B only.
100. Leopoldville, Congo becomes Kinshasa and Salisbury,
Zimbabwe becomes Harare. These are examples of
a. colonial toponyms.
b. descriptive toponyms.
c. migration effects.
d. post-colonial toponyms.