ANTHRCUL 101 SPOTLIGHT EXAM Questions With
Answers Graded A+ 2025/2026
Feminization of Poverty - Increasing demonstration of women as America's
poorest people. Many make under minimum wage and don't have the
support of a man
Code Switching - Speakers shift from 1 language/dialect to another
- Thinking in 1 lang & speaking in another
- Mark identity
- Build solidarity
- Not a word in 1 lang that's as good as in the other
- Strategic device—so other people/kid don't know what you're saying
Ex: GSI speaks differently in Ann Arbor vs. in LA
Euphemism - Substitution of an inoffensive word for a more unpleasant
one. Often used in religion/realm of sacred to avoid calling forth an evil pwr,
etc
Ex: He passed away vs. He died.
Hypercorrection - Correcting a mistake that isn't there
Ex: Prof's cousin wrote "sewerside" instead of "suicide" because he just
assumed New Yorkers naturally dropped the "r"
Ex: saying "I" instead of "me"
Minimal Pairs - Words that resemble each other in all but one sound (have
totally different meanings)
Ex: pin vs. pen (look at vowels)
Morpheme/Morphology - Morpheme: smallest unit having a specific
meaning
Sometimes 1 word: teach
"teacher"= teach + er ("er" = one who does)
, "teachers"= teach + er + s ("s" = plural)
need to combine in right order (teachser doesn't work) & following
rules/exceptions to rules
sometimes ppl divide up morphemes incorrectly: helicopter = helico (spiral)
+ pter (wing)
making new word: shopaholic - incorrect, but = new expression
morphology: study of morphemes & word construction
Phoneme/Phonology - Smallest unit of sound that influences meaning in a
lang. (has no meaning in and of itself)
Ex: Japanese vs. US: "L" and "R" are not diff. sounds in Japan
Lip / Rip =diff in English
Spin / pin (aspirated p in spin vs. plain /p/)
Ex: message vs. massage
Ex: Marry Merry Mary... Prof could pronounce/hear the 3 differently being
from NY, but rest of class in South did not hear a difference
Phonology: study of a sys. of distinctive sounds in a language & phonetics
Syntax - Rules of word order
English: order is important—meaning changes otherwise
Object vs. subject indicated by different ending, but order doesn't matter
Grammar:
"colorless green ideas sleep furiously"=grammatically correct
Answers Graded A+ 2025/2026
Feminization of Poverty - Increasing demonstration of women as America's
poorest people. Many make under minimum wage and don't have the
support of a man
Code Switching - Speakers shift from 1 language/dialect to another
- Thinking in 1 lang & speaking in another
- Mark identity
- Build solidarity
- Not a word in 1 lang that's as good as in the other
- Strategic device—so other people/kid don't know what you're saying
Ex: GSI speaks differently in Ann Arbor vs. in LA
Euphemism - Substitution of an inoffensive word for a more unpleasant
one. Often used in religion/realm of sacred to avoid calling forth an evil pwr,
etc
Ex: He passed away vs. He died.
Hypercorrection - Correcting a mistake that isn't there
Ex: Prof's cousin wrote "sewerside" instead of "suicide" because he just
assumed New Yorkers naturally dropped the "r"
Ex: saying "I" instead of "me"
Minimal Pairs - Words that resemble each other in all but one sound (have
totally different meanings)
Ex: pin vs. pen (look at vowels)
Morpheme/Morphology - Morpheme: smallest unit having a specific
meaning
Sometimes 1 word: teach
"teacher"= teach + er ("er" = one who does)
, "teachers"= teach + er + s ("s" = plural)
need to combine in right order (teachser doesn't work) & following
rules/exceptions to rules
sometimes ppl divide up morphemes incorrectly: helicopter = helico (spiral)
+ pter (wing)
making new word: shopaholic - incorrect, but = new expression
morphology: study of morphemes & word construction
Phoneme/Phonology - Smallest unit of sound that influences meaning in a
lang. (has no meaning in and of itself)
Ex: Japanese vs. US: "L" and "R" are not diff. sounds in Japan
Lip / Rip =diff in English
Spin / pin (aspirated p in spin vs. plain /p/)
Ex: message vs. massage
Ex: Marry Merry Mary... Prof could pronounce/hear the 3 differently being
from NY, but rest of class in South did not hear a difference
Phonology: study of a sys. of distinctive sounds in a language & phonetics
Syntax - Rules of word order
English: order is important—meaning changes otherwise
Object vs. subject indicated by different ending, but order doesn't matter
Grammar:
"colorless green ideas sleep furiously"=grammatically correct
