30 Questions
What is the difference between 'yous' and 'you' in terms of their social distribution?
Yous is used in certain non-standard varieties of English, while you is used in all standard varieties and some non-standard varieties.
What is the difference in pronunciation between the words 'sun' in southern England and in northern England?
In southern England, 'sun' is pronounced with the sound /√/, while in northern England, it is pronounced with the sound /U/.
What is the typical pronunciation of the suffix –ing in written English in standard varieties?
/IN/
What is the term used to describe the different social distributions of 'child' and 'bairn'?
Linguistic items
What is the difference between the English phonemes /√/ and /U/?
/√/ is a typical southern sound, while /U/ is a typical northern sound.
What is the difference in pronunciation between the suffixes –ing in standard and non-standard varieties of English?
In standard varieties, the suffix –ing is pronounced /IN/, while in non-standard varieties, it is pronounced /In/.
What is the primary focus of sociolinguists when studying language variation?
The social distribution of particular linguistic items
What is the term used to describe a geographical subdivision of a language?
Dialect
Why is it necessary to define technical terms in sociolinguistics?
To distance ourselves from commonsense knowledge
What is the term used to describe the study of language variation in relation to social factors?
Sociolinguistics
What is the main challenge in defining linguistic terms such as language and dialect?
They are difficult to define in a satisfactory way
What is the purpose of using technical terms in sociolinguistics, according to Richard Hudson?
To distance ourselves from the concepts represented by lay culture
What is the typical word order in the construction 'Give it to me!' in traditional dialects of England?
Verb - pronoun - pronoun - preposition
What is the most widespread past tense of 'catch' in English dialects of England?
catched
What is the definition of a variety in linguistics?
A set of linguistic items with similar social distribution
Which of the following constructions is not common in traditional dialects of England?
Give it to me!
What is the grammatical construction of the sentence 'Give it to me!'?
Imperative sentence with a verb and a prepositional phrase
What is the relationship between 'catched' and 'caught' in English dialects?
They are different linguistic items
What is a variety of language, according to the definition provided?
A small set of linguistic items with a restricted social distribution
Which of the following statements is true about the provided examples of language varieties?
They represent different social distributions and geographical locations
What is a characteristic of Jamaican Creole, as seen in the example provided?
It uses a mix of new and old words and meanings
What is the main difference between the New Guinea Pidgin (Tok Pisin) sentence and the Older Standard English of the 'King James version' Bible sentence?
The sentence structure and vocabulary
What is the meaning of the sentence 'Nobody don’t like a boss hardly' in the Southern US white Non-Standard dialect from Atlanta?
Hardly anybody likes a boss
What is the meaning of the sentence 'Papa, min bin mekim sin long God na long yu' in New Guinea Pidgin (Tok Pisin)?
Father, I have sinned against God and against you
What is the common characteristic of the varieties in (1a) – (1g)?
They are all forms of English
What is the title of the book written by Ibn Khaldu ?
No specific book is mentioned
What is the primary difference between Classical Arabic and Modern Literary Arabic?
Classical Arabic is the language of the Quran, while Modern Literary Arabic is the language of modern authors
What is the meaning of the phrase 'ball-ache' in English slang?
A very inconvenient task
What is the common characteristic of the varieties in (1h) – (1k)?
They are all forms of Arabic
What is the language of the sentence 'Amm Muusa daxalat zeribt al-bagar'?
Chadian Spoken Arabic of Ulâd Eli
Study Notes
English Dialects in England
- The most widespread past tense of "catch" is "catched" in some dialects, while in standard dialects and some others, it's "caught".
- These two forms, "catched" and "caught", are different linguistic items.
Grammatical Constructions
- "Give it to me!" is a standard English grammatical construction with a verb, pronoun, and prepositional phrase.
- "Give me it!" and "Give it me!" are different grammatical constructions, each a linguistic item.
Varieties of Language
- A variety is a set of linguistic items with similar social distribution.
- Varieties can be small sets of new words and meanings, mixed with linguistic items of larger social distribution (e.g., slang).
- Examples of varieties: Standard English, Jamaican Creole, Southern US white Non-Standard dialect, New Guinea Pidgin, and others.
Linguistic Items
- English pronouns "yous" and "you" are different linguistic items with different social distributions.
- "Child" and "bairn" are different linguistic items used in different regions of England.
- The English phonemes /√/ and /U/ are different linguistic items used in different regions of England.
- The suffixes /IN/ and /In/ are different linguistic items with different social distributions.
Language and Variation
- Sociolinguistics studies language variation, requiring reference to social factors.
- Language, dialect, and variety are terms that need clear definitions.
- Sociolinguists study the social distribution of particular linguistic items (e.g., words, sounds, grammatical constructions).
This quiz covers the introductory chapter of ELT 101, focusing on language variation and its relationship with sociolinguistics. Topics include linguistic items, dialects, varieties, sociolects, accents, jargons, and registers.
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