Quiz #5 – Introduction to Language (Spring 2023)

Based on the readings for weeks 12 and 13. Due by 11:59pm on Sunday, 30 April.

Email(Required)

1. The English words sausage, sauce, salary, and salad all ultimately come from the same Latin word. What is that word, and what does it mean?(Required)

2. Are all languages ultimately related?(Required)

Yes – all languages descended from a single common ancestral language thousands of years ago.

No – ancestral languages were developed spontaneously in different areas at different times.

Maybe – we simply don’t have enough evidence to know one way or the other.

3. Give an example of a word whose meaning has changed over time. What did it used to mean, and what does it mean now? You can give an example from the reading or find one of your own.(Required)

4. If someone called you "silly" in 1,000 AD, what would they have been saying that you were?(Required)

stupid

blessed

pitiable

innocent

5. In chapter 5 of Rickerson & Hilton's book, John McWhorter argues that language is constantly changing, and he writes that "The only thing that makes it look as if a language stays the same forever is print." Discuss how this relates to the perspective of prescriptivists, who deride most innovations as mistakes.(Required)

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