By William B. McGregor
1) Languages change very rapidly compared to complex animal species such as primates.
True False
2) Languages change is not constant, but varies within certain limits.
3) Which of the following is not a type of sound change?
assimilation dissimilation deletion insertion metathesis bleaching
4) Which of the following sound changes is not an example of assimilation? (Forms are given in IPA.)
maror > marol bimp > bimb singa > siŋga bapa > baba
5) The sound change k > t in skama > stama is an example of regressive assimilation.
6) According to Grimm's law, proto-Indo-European voiceless stops became voiceless fricatives in Germanic. Is this an example of a chain shift?
Yes No
7) Which of the following is an example of metathesis? (Forms are given in IPA.)
aks > ask aks > akas aks > akɣ aks > ats aks > ak
8) Which of the following is an example of assimilation? (Forms are given in IPA.)
film > fiml film > firm film > filəm film > filn film > fim
9) Only free morphemes can be borrowed.
10) Which of the following hypothetical changes in English plural forms would be an example of an analogical levelling?
kæts > kætn̩ mɛn > mænz bændz > bɛnd dɔgz > dɔks
11) The humorous plural spice of the singular spouse illustrates which sort of morphological change?
analogical levelling analogical extension reanalysis grammaticalization
12) Word order patterns are too abstract to be borrowed.
13) In a certain language we find that what used to be a reflexive construction a century ago is now used also to express reciprocal meanings (i.e. acting on one another). Which of the following processes does this illustrate?
borrowing extension reanalysis dissimilation
14) If a grammatical structure or construction is borrowed from one language to another, the grammatical morphemes marking it in the source language will always be translated into the borrowing language.
15) Which of the following processes does not normally happen to a morpheme when it undergoes grammaticalization?
semantic bleaching concretisation of meaning phonological reduction
16) Which of the following pair of changes is the more likely?
change from verb to preposition change from preposition to verb
17) Which of the following types of marker is the most likely for be going to to grammaticalize into?
a marker of present tense a marker of past tense a marker of future tense a marker of continuous aspect
18) Is pejoration the process by which a word takes on a more positive connotation?
19) A change in the meaning of a verb from 'hit' to 'kill' is an example of which sort of semantic change?
pejoration understatement bleaching elevation hyperbole
20) A change in meaning from ‘left hand’ to ‘evil’ illustrates which of the following types of semantic change?
21) Which of the following is the least likely or poorest explanation for a sound change from [ng] to[ŋ]?
laziness economising of articulatory gestures
22) There is a tendency for grammatical systems to change so as to become (more) symmetrical, filling in gaps in paradigms.
23) The replacement of the pronoun /ŋaju/ 'I' by /miː/ in a language because of its phonological similarity to the name of a deceased person is an example of what type of change:
semantic bleacing regularisation taboo replacement pejoration foreign influence
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