Introduction to Linguistics
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Questions and Answers

Which of the following correctly describes a primary distinction between Centum and Satem languages?

  • Satem languages merge velar and palatal plosives.
  • Satem languages maintain palatal plosives without change.
  • Centum languages change palatal plosives to sibilants.
  • Centum languages merge palatal plosives with velar plosives. (correct)
  • What is NOT a grammatical feature of Proto-Indo-European language?

  • It used a binary case system. (correct)
  • It had three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
  • It had 8-9 grammatical cases.
  • It was a synthetic language with rich inflectional morphology.
  • How many grammatical cases were found in nouns of the Proto-Indo-European language?

  • 10-11 cases
  • 7-8 cases
  • 6-7 cases
  • 8-9 cases (correct)
  • Which of the following is true regarding the distribution of Indo-European languages before the 16th century?

    <p>They were present in Europe and parts of Asia. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the Proto-Indo-European language's grammatical structure, what is the term for the combination of root and stem suffix?

    <p>Stem (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the ranking of English among native languages worldwide?

    <p>Third (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which British individual is known for researching similarities among Indo-European languages?

    <p>Sir William Jones (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    During which century did the Kurgan hypothesis propose the Proto-Indo-Europeans lived in the Pontic-Caspian steppe?

    <p>4th millennium BC (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How are the Indo-European languages traditionally categorized?

    <p>Into centum and satem languages (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What characterized the research in comparative linguistics during the 19th century?

    <p>Intensive research and analysis by various scholars (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What ensured that all Indo-European languages are genetically related?

    <p>Their evolution from a common language (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which two branches of the Indo-European languages are mentioned as extinct?

    <p>Tocharian and Anatolian (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What time frame is associated with the emergence of the Germanic branch of Indo-European languages?

    <p>3300 BC (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is unique about the present tense forms of preterite-present verbs?

    <p>They look and act like the past tense of strong verbs. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do preterite-present verbs form their past tense?

    <p>By adding regular endings like weak verbs. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following verbs is an example of a preterite-present verb?

    <p>can (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the main function of preterite-present verbs in Proto-Germanic?

    <p>To represent ongoing past actions as present. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Grimm's Law describe?

    <p>Sound changes distinguishing Germanic languages from other Indo-European languages. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the hypothetical scenario presented, what would 'I sanged' represent?

    <p>The present tense meaning 'I know'. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of strong verbs?

    <p>They add regular suffixes to form the past tense. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What would preterite-present verbs signify in their original form in Proto-Indo-European?

    <p>A mixture of past actions and potentiality. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What type of declension are based on Proto-Germanic vocalic themes?

    <p>Strong declension (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is categorized as an A-stem noun?

    <p>dæġ (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What common feature do weak verbs share in their formation?

    <p>Dental suffix in the preterite (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following lists contains only athematic verbs in Old English?

    <p>dōn, gān, bēōn (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What distinguishes strong verbs from weak verbs in Old English?

    <p>They form the preterite through root vowel changes. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which noun is categorized as an N-stem or weak noun?

    <p>fōt (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following statements about athematic nouns is true?

    <p>They have endings added to the root directly. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Out of the following, which are the main groups of verbs in Old English?

    <p>Strong, weak, and athematic (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What transformation occurs to Proto-Indo-European (PIE) voiceless stops in the first phase?

    <p>They transform into voiceless fricatives. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In Verner's Law, what happens to voiceless fricatives?

    <p>They become voiced if preceded by an unstressed vowel. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following represents a change from Proto-Germanic to Old English due to palatalization?

    <p>g → j (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the result of palatalization for the consonant [k]?

    <p>[k] becomes [tʃ] or [c]. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are the three numbers distinguished in the Proto-Germanic grammatical system?

    <p>Singular, Plural, Dual (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does the transformation of PIE aspirated voiced stops occur in the third phase?

    <p>They turn into unaspirated voiced fricatives. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following was NOT a mood in the Proto-Germanic grammatical system?

    <p>Conditional (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the example of 'father', how does Verner's Law apply?

    <p>The 't' becomes 'th'. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which set of cases was included in the Proto-Germanic inflectional system for nouns?

    <p>Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Vocative, Instrumental (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a characteristic effect of Old English sound changes on the consonant [ɣ]?

    <p>[ɣ] transitions to [j] or disappears in certain environments. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What distinguishes thematic verbs in Proto-Germanic?

    <p>They have a theme vowel connecting the root to its endings. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which consonant is typically transformed to [sċ] in all positions?

    <p>c (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How many principal classes of strong verbs are present in the Proto-Germanic system?

    <p>Seven (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which characteristic is true about athematic nouns in Proto-Germanic?

    <p>They are root nouns that do not follow standard inflectional patterns. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What change occurred to the PIE ablative and locative cases in Proto-Germanic?

    <p>They were merged into the dative forms. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is NOT true regarding the Proto-Germanic tense system?

    <p>It included three tenses: present, past, and future. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Flashcards

    Centum Language

    A language family where the Proto-Indo-European palatal plosives merged with velar plosives, resulting in a "k" sound.

    Satem Language

    A language family where the Proto-Indo-European palatal plosives evolved into sibilants, resulting in an "s" sound.

    Synthetic Language

    A language with a rich system of grammatical endings attached to words, allowing for complex meanings to be expressed within a single word.

    Stem

    The part of a word that contains its core meaning, typically a combination of the root and any stem suffixes.

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    Athematic Word

    A word that belongs to the oldest layer of a language's vocabulary, often with a direct connection to the root.

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    Indo-European language family

    The largest language family in the world with over 3 billion speakers.

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    Proto-Indo-European (PIE)

    A single, ancient language that was spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. It was the ancestor of all Indo-European languages.

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    Sir William Jones

    Sir William Jones was a British orientalist who discovered similarities between Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin, leading to the hypothesis of a common ancestor (PIE).

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    Kurgan hypothesis

    The theory that Proto-Indo-Europeans originated in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe of Eastern Europe and spread their language as they migrated.

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    Anatolian languages

    A group of extinct languages that were spoken in Anatolia (modern Turkey).

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    Tocharian languages

    A group of extinct languages that were spoken in Central Asia (modern China).

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    Germanic languages

    A group of languages that includes English, German, Dutch, Swedish, and many others.

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    Centum and Satem languages

    A way to classify Indo-European languages based on how they treat certain sounds (palatal plosives).

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    What are preterite-present verbs?

    Verbs that act like the past tense of strong verbs in the present tense. They use the past tense of strong verbs instead of the regular present tense.

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    What are weak verbs?

    Verbs that form their past tense by adding endings, like '-ed', to the word.

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    What are strong verbs?

    Verbs that form their past tense by changing vowels inside the word, like 'sing' becoming 'sang'.

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    How do preterite-present verbs form their past tense (preterite)?

    Preterite-present verbs form their past tense like weak verbs by adding endings, such as '-ed', or by creating new weak forms.

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    What is Grimm's Law?

    A change in consonant sounds that occurred from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, distinguishing Germanic languages from other Indo-European languages.

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    What was the original function of preterite-present verbs?

    In Proto-Indo-European, these verbs originally indicated past or perfect actions, but in Proto-Germanic, they became present tense forms.

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    What are some modern English verbs that are descended from preterite-present verbs?

    English verbs like 'can,' 'shall,' 'may,' and 'must' are descendants of these types of verbs, which originated in Proto-Germanic.

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    Why are preterite-present verbs confusing?

    Preterite-present verbs do not form their present tense by changing vowels like strong verbs. They use the past tense of a strong verb as their present tense form.

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    Proto-Germanic Grammar

    The Proto-Germanic grammatical system was similar to Greek or Latin around 200 AD, with six cases, three numbers, three genders, two voices, and three moods.

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    Proto-Germanic Noun Structure

    In Proto-Germanic, nouns are formed with a root, stem suffix (theme), and ending. Stem suffix + ending define the stem, and stem suffix itself is called a theme.

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    Noun Paradigms in Proto-Germanic

    Proto-Germanic nouns are categorized by their stems: a-stems, ō-stems, n-stems, u-stems, and i-stems. These are the most common and productive paradigms.

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    Proto-Germanic Verb Classes

    Proto-Germanic verbs can be divided into two main groups: a small set of athematic verbs and a large group of thematic verbs. Thematic verbs are further divided into classes based on preterite tense formation.

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    Strong vs. Weak Verbs in Proto-Germanic

    Proto-Germanic strong verbs form the preterite tense through ablaut or reduplication. Weak verbs add a dental suffix to the root.

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    Proto-Germanic Verb Tenses

    Proto-Germanic had two tenses: present and preterite. This differs from languages like Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit, which have six or seven tenses.

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    What are Thematic Verbs?

    Proto-Germanic thematic verbs have a vowel (the "theme vowel") connecting the verb root to its endings. They follow predictable patterns for changes in different tenses.

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    Proto-Germanic Cases

    The Proto-Germanic case system included six cases: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Vocative, and Instrumental. The PIE ablative merged into other cases, mostly dative.

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    Grimm's Law

    A sound change in Proto-Germanic where voiceless stops like "p", "t", and "k" became voiceless fricatives like "f", "th", and "h".

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    Verner's Law

    A sound change that affected voiceless fricatives in Proto-Germanic, making them voiced when preceded by an unstressed vowel. Examples include "f" becoming "v" and "th" becoming "dh".

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    Palatalization

    A phenomenon where a consonant's place of articulation moves closer to the hard palate resulting in a "y" or "ch" sound. This primarily affected velar consonants like "k", "g", and "ɣ".

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    Grimm's Law: "kw" to "hw"

    A sound change that affected Proto-Germanic by transforming the Proto-Indo-European consonant clusters "pw" and "kw" into "hw".

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    Grimm's Law: Stage 1

    A change where voiceless stops like "p" and "t" became voiceless fricatives like "f" and "th".

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    Grimm's Law: Stage 2

    A change where unaspirated voiced stops like "b" and "d" became unaspirated voiceless stops like "p" and "t".

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    Grimm's Law: Stage 3

    A change where aspirated voiced stops like "bh" and "dh" became unaspirated voiced fricatives like "v" and "ð".

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    Push or Pull Chain

    A chain reaction of sound changes where each change influenced the next. It can occur in a forward or backward direction.

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    Weak nouns

    Nouns that form their plural by adding a consonant suffix, mostly ending in '-n' (e.g., 'sun' to 'sunnan'). They are called 'weak' because they don't change their root vowel like strong nouns.

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    Weak verbs

    Verbs that form their past tense by adding a dental suffix (e.g., '-d', '-t' ) like 'deaman' (to decide) to 'dēm-de' (decided). They are called 'regular' because they follow a consistent pattern.

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    Athematic nouns

    Nouns in Old English that form their plural not by adding a suffix, but by changing the root vowel, like 'fōt' (foot) to 'fēt' (feet).

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    Strong verbs

    Verbs in Old English that form their past tense by changing the root vowel, like 'bītan' (bite) to 'bāt' (bit).

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    Thematic verbs

    Verbs that form their past tense by adding a suffix to a stem, unlike 'strong' or 'weak' verbs that change the root vowel.

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    Athematic verbs

    Verbs in Old English that are formed by directly adding the past tense ending to the root, without any extra suffixes between.

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    Declension

    The way that nouns are sorted into groups based on their endings and how they change in different grammatical cases.

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    Study Notes

    Introduction

    • English is the third most common native language globally after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish
    • English is the official language of nearly 60 countries, the European Union, and many international organizations.

    Periodization

    • Proto-Indo-European is the largest language family with over 3 billion speakers and over 400 related languages
    • Other large language families include Sino-Tibetan (1.6 billion speakers), Niger-Congo, Afro-Asiatic, and Austronesian.

    History

    • Observations on Indo-European language similarities existed from the 16th to the 18th centuries, but were not widely recognized until later.
    • Sir William Jones, a British orientalist, initiated research in comparative linguistics, noting similarities between Sanskrit, Classical Greek, and Latin, suggesting a common ancestor.
    • The 19th century saw intensive comparative linguistic research by scholars like Franz Bopp, August Schleicher, and Rasmus Rask.
    • The 20th and 21st centuries brought discoveries of new branches in the Indo-European language family.

    Kurgan Hypothesis

    • The Proto-Indo-Europeans likely lived in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe of Eastern Europe, and expanded across Europe and Asia around 3500 BC.
    • There are no written records of the Proto-Indo-European language.

    Branches of Indo-European Languages

    • Anatolian (extinct) -located in Asia Minor
    • Tocharian (extinct) - discovered in Central Asia (20th Century)
    • Germanic - emerged around 3300BC
    • All these branches are descendants of a single parent language (PIE).

    Main Grammatical Features of Proto-Indo-European

    • Synthetic language with a complex inflectional morphology, where most words consist of a root, stem suffix, and ending.
    • Nouns have 8-9 cases and three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) with singular, plural, and dual noun forms.
    • Verbs have a complex conjugation system with tense, mood, aspect, voice, person, and number distinctions
    • Vowel gradation (ablaut) and vowel harmony (umlaut) are crucial for grammatical meaning.

    Proto-Germanic

    • The common ancestor of Germanic languages
    • No written records, but evidence like the Vimose inscriptions (around 200 AD).
    • First Germanic sound shift (Grimm's law) distinguished Germanic from other Indo-European langs.

    Proto-Germanic Grammar

    • Retained many PIE features but with changes in the sound system
    • Grammatical cases, genders, and number systems.
    • A system of vowel gradation and other sound-changes.
    • Similar but distinct structure to PIE with changes in sounds and cases.

    Old English

    • Developed from Proto-Germanic.
    • Developed in England from the 5th to 11th centuries.
    • Influences from Anglo-Saxon and Viking languages
    • The main dialect of OE is West Saxon or Winchester Standard
    • Complex grammatical system with four dialects, including grammatical cases, genders, numbers, and other similar structures.

    Old English Nouns

    • Declension types: A-stems, O-stems, U-stems, and N-stems (weak nouns).

    Old English Pronouns

    • Declensions for each gender, case, and number.

    Old English Verbs

    • Inflectional system with distinct themes
    • Strong verbs- those with vowel alternations for tenses
    • Weak verbs - Those with added suffixes
    • Athematic verbs- the oldest verbs
    • Tense and mood distinctions.

    Sound Changes

    • Grimm's Law - a set of consonant changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic and into Old English.
    • Verner's Law - an exception to Grimm's law, addressing voice or voicing/voiceless consonant changes.

    Pronouns

    • Grammatical differentiation based on gender, number, and case, similar to nouns, but with specific pronouns for each person or group.

    Verbs

    • Proto-Germanic/Old English verbs are categorized into inflectional groups with distinct features for tense, mood, and aspect.
    • Classification of verbs by type
    • Vowel gradation and shifts
    • Consonant changes, such as through Grimm's Law.

    Syntax

    • Subject-object-verb (SOV) word order.

    General Remarks

    • The development reflects the spread and interaction of peoples and languages.

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