LING 115 UNIT 1 EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
The Invariant System Hypothesis - Correct Answers -LANGUAGE consists of:
-set of words
-rules of grammar and pronunciation
-people use these rules in the same way
Problem with Invariant System Hypothesis - Correct Answers -language variation--> no
two individuals make use of an identical set of rules or vocab the same
natural selection - Correct Answers -a particular group becomes more powerful over
time militarily and economically
deliberate selection - Correct Answers -government decides they want to increase
status of a particular variety and give it a special role (NL or OL)
idiolect - Correct Answers -unique personalized way that each individual uses language
Mutual Intelligibility Hypothesis - Correct Answers -If 2 speakers can understand each
other when they speak (despite slight difference), they are speaking two varieties of the
same language
MIH counterexample (Type 1) - Correct Answers -2+ varieties of speech are mutually
intelligible but classified as different languages
ex: Hindi and Urdu
MIH counterexample (Type 2) - Correct Answers -2+ varieties are mutually unintelligible
but classified as varieties (dialects) of the same language
ex: Chinese, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Shanghainese are different but
classified as dialects of Chinese
MIH counter conc - Correct Answers -MIH can't account for real-world language-dialect
divisions
Socio-political factors (language vs. dialect) - Correct Answers -Political events and
situations often lead to formal recognition of varieties either as languages or dialects
serbo-croation - Correct Answers --considered varieties of a single language at first
-When Yugoslavia broke up, nationalists claimed they were different languages
-even though mutually intelligble
ANSWERS
The Invariant System Hypothesis - Correct Answers -LANGUAGE consists of:
-set of words
-rules of grammar and pronunciation
-people use these rules in the same way
Problem with Invariant System Hypothesis - Correct Answers -language variation--> no
two individuals make use of an identical set of rules or vocab the same
natural selection - Correct Answers -a particular group becomes more powerful over
time militarily and economically
deliberate selection - Correct Answers -government decides they want to increase
status of a particular variety and give it a special role (NL or OL)
idiolect - Correct Answers -unique personalized way that each individual uses language
Mutual Intelligibility Hypothesis - Correct Answers -If 2 speakers can understand each
other when they speak (despite slight difference), they are speaking two varieties of the
same language
MIH counterexample (Type 1) - Correct Answers -2+ varieties of speech are mutually
intelligible but classified as different languages
ex: Hindi and Urdu
MIH counterexample (Type 2) - Correct Answers -2+ varieties are mutually unintelligible
but classified as varieties (dialects) of the same language
ex: Chinese, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Shanghainese are different but
classified as dialects of Chinese
MIH counter conc - Correct Answers -MIH can't account for real-world language-dialect
divisions
Socio-political factors (language vs. dialect) - Correct Answers -Political events and
situations often lead to formal recognition of varieties either as languages or dialects
serbo-croation - Correct Answers --considered varieties of a single language at first
-When Yugoslavia broke up, nationalists claimed they were different languages
-even though mutually intelligble
