LING 115 - Linguistics Midterm #2
2025/2026 Exam Questions with 100%
Correct Answers | Latest Update
Which of the following is an s-curve?
a. Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature, then twenty more, then forty
more after that.
b. Forty people adopt a new linguistic feature, then twenty more, then ten
after that.
c. Forty people adopt a new linguistic feature, then ten more, then twenty
more after that.
,d. Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature, then forty more, then twenty
after that. - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔d. Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature,
then forty more, then twenty after that.
Which of the following CAN'T be described by an s-curve?
a. the diffusion of a sound change through the words a speaker knows
b. the diffusion of a disease through a community
c. the diffusion of a sound change through the speakers of a language
d. the diffusion of pollution in a body of water - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔d. the
diffusion of pollution in a body of water
Once a change begins in a language, it can't be stopped.
True
False - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔False
If a sound change happened in English such that all instances of "th"
became pronounced as "d," the word "that" would be pronounced as "dat"
before the word "thereby" was pronounced as "dereby."
,True
False - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔True
The language of Napkinish is experiencing a change. Speakers, starting in
the city of Forktown, have stopped using the "-ippa" suffix in the past tense.
In Forktown, the words "tullippa," "loppippa," and "bonippa" are all now
pronounced as "tull," "lopp," and "bon" in the past tense. In the town of
Spoonville thirty miles away, "tullippa" is pronounced as "tull," and
"bonippa" is pronounced as "bon," but "loppippa" must still be pronounced
"loppippa." Bowlville is another town sixty miles away from Forktown on the
other side of Spoonville. (You have to drive through Spoonville to get to
Bowlville in fact.) What must be true in Bowlville?
a. The people in Bowlville definitely do NOT say "lopp" instead of
"loppippa."
b. The people in Bowlville definitely say "lopp" instead of "loppippa."
c. The people in Bowlville definitely say "bon" instead of "bonippa."
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, d. The language change definitely hasn't reached Bowlville. - 🧠 ANSWER
✔✔a. The people in Bowlville definitely do NOT say "lopp" instead of
"loppippa."
An isogloss is a line between two dialects.
True
False - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔False
It has become common in some varieties of English recently to say "las"
instead of "last" (as in: "He came in las"). Which of the following is true of
this change?
a. It is the result of speakers being too lazy to include the final consonant.
b. It is the result of a predictable change whereby speakers reduce the
markedness of the language.
c. It is evidence that English has become less elegant than how it was
spoken 100 years ago.
2025/2026 Exam Questions with 100%
Correct Answers | Latest Update
Which of the following is an s-curve?
a. Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature, then twenty more, then forty
more after that.
b. Forty people adopt a new linguistic feature, then twenty more, then ten
after that.
c. Forty people adopt a new linguistic feature, then ten more, then twenty
more after that.
,d. Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature, then forty more, then twenty
after that. - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔d. Ten people adopt a new linguistic feature,
then forty more, then twenty after that.
Which of the following CAN'T be described by an s-curve?
a. the diffusion of a sound change through the words a speaker knows
b. the diffusion of a disease through a community
c. the diffusion of a sound change through the speakers of a language
d. the diffusion of pollution in a body of water - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔d. the
diffusion of pollution in a body of water
Once a change begins in a language, it can't be stopped.
True
False - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔False
If a sound change happened in English such that all instances of "th"
became pronounced as "d," the word "that" would be pronounced as "dat"
before the word "thereby" was pronounced as "dereby."
,True
False - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔True
The language of Napkinish is experiencing a change. Speakers, starting in
the city of Forktown, have stopped using the "-ippa" suffix in the past tense.
In Forktown, the words "tullippa," "loppippa," and "bonippa" are all now
pronounced as "tull," "lopp," and "bon" in the past tense. In the town of
Spoonville thirty miles away, "tullippa" is pronounced as "tull," and
"bonippa" is pronounced as "bon," but "loppippa" must still be pronounced
"loppippa." Bowlville is another town sixty miles away from Forktown on the
other side of Spoonville. (You have to drive through Spoonville to get to
Bowlville in fact.) What must be true in Bowlville?
a. The people in Bowlville definitely do NOT say "lopp" instead of
"loppippa."
b. The people in Bowlville definitely say "lopp" instead of "loppippa."
c. The people in Bowlville definitely say "bon" instead of "bonippa."
COPYRIGHT©PROFFKERRYMARTIN 2025/2026. YEAR PUBLISHED 2025. COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 619652435. TERMS OF USE.
PRIVACY STATEMENT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
, d. The language change definitely hasn't reached Bowlville. - 🧠 ANSWER
✔✔a. The people in Bowlville definitely do NOT say "lopp" instead of
"loppippa."
An isogloss is a line between two dialects.
True
False - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔False
It has become common in some varieties of English recently to say "las"
instead of "last" (as in: "He came in las"). Which of the following is true of
this change?
a. It is the result of speakers being too lazy to include the final consonant.
b. It is the result of a predictable change whereby speakers reduce the
markedness of the language.
c. It is evidence that English has become less elegant than how it was
spoken 100 years ago.
