Sample Questions for Examination IIIThis examination has three sections: (1) Multiple choice questions similar to those below. (2) Two short discussion responses from a range of topics that apply course methodology or concepts. (3) An essay using the prompt from our assignment sheet. |
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Short Answer QuestionsThese questions cover material from our Section III topics and reading in Fennell, your work with dictionaries during our Word Study projects, and Bloomfield's, "Short History." Questions 1-4: Here are four dictionaries, decide which supports each task best. (A) Oxford
English Dictionary 1. To check the areas of the U.S. where storm window is a common household word. 2. To investigate a word's change over time. 3. To check the preferred U.S. spelling of a word. 4. To look up the spelling history of a word over time. Answers: 1. (D). 2. (A). 3. (C) or (D). 4. (A) |
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5. The form history in the Oxford
English Dictionary , second edition, shows "1-3 cniht." This spelling occurred in Answer: (B) The entry means "eleventh through thirteenth centuries," part of the Old English period. 6. The etymology entry in the American Heritage Dictionary
for falcon is [Middle English, from Old French faucon,
from Late Latin falco. See pel-1 in appendix
1.] This evidence indicates Answer: (A). AHD entries leave a form blank when it is the same as the previous spelling in the dictionary article. Here the dictionary signals to go to the headword spelling. 7. The information in question 6 suggests that falcon Answer: (D). All the statements are supported by the AHD
evidence. The <l> in the English spelling probably reflects an
etymological spelling recognizing the earlier Late Latin form. |
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8. The Mod E diphthong /aI/ developed from Answer (C). The Great Vowel Shift has been an important phonological change studied in our course because it distinguished eModE from ME and has an important effect on English spelling. 9. ME /o:/ develops Answer (A). You need to know the Great Vowel Shift changes and the spellings established for the long vowels in late Middle English. These spellings are selected because of the influence of the Southeast Midlands dialect and Chancery scribal practice in early English printing. But the sounds of these vowels change in the Great Vowel Shift. The other distracters in (B) don't use the correct linguistic symbols of our course. 10. Middle English name becomes Answer (D). The ME spelling continues, but the final schwa is
lost, resulting in "silent-e." The Great Vowel Shift raises the
ME long vowel one slot to /aI/, which isn't listed in the responses. 11. The eModE verb ending -eth appears in the King
James Bible and Shakespeare's plays. It signals Answer (D). This third person present inflection is replaced in Standard English by {S3}, a form from Northern English dialect, but in early Modern English -eth is still used for subject-verb agreement with a third person singular subject. 12. Shakespeare's First Folio is printed in Answer (C). This first printing of Shakespeare's plays show early Modern English grammar, morphology, and spellings. 13. 9. The English dialect with inherent structural
superiority is Answer: (D). All dialects serve the needs of their speakers. Some dialects receive social value, which gives them prestige in certain contexts. 14. The use of be in African-American Vernacular
English is Answer: (D). AAVE has a set of rules for be deletion and use that are different from Standard American English. A set of rules is part of a dialect's grammar. The Power Point presentation highlighted consuetudinal-be and be-deletion in Black English. Here are four types of word formation. Apply them to each English word in Questions 15-18. (A) compounding 15. University of North Carolina > UNC. 16. Blondistic < blond + ist + ic. 17. McGowanesque 'using pedagogy featuring monkeys' 18. monkeyland Answers: 15. (D). 16. (B). 17. (B) again! 18. (A) 19. Johnson's Dictionary helped codify Standard English Answer: (B). Johnson published the dictionary in 1755. It is part of the development of step three of standardizing: codification. 20. Eighteenth-century writing is Answer: (D). The lack of difference is the result of
standardizing influences. 21. Northern British English, i.e., distinctive forms spoken
north of the Humber River, Answer: (B). All dialects have grammars. The distribution here
is regional rather than based on social or ethnic identity. 22. Ocracoke English developed because of Answer: (A) Separation of a speech community contributes to distinctive forms, either keeping older forms or changing forms. Responses (B) and (C) contribute to the development of standard British and American English, not to dialect differences. Scots-Irish settlement in the Southern Appalachians contributed to Appalachian English, an upper Southern dialect. 23. African-American Vernacular or Black English is Answer: (A) This group dialect is distributed throughout many cities where even whites and Puerto Ricans may speak it. 24. In Jamaica, creolized English has developed with its own
distinctive forms used in reggae songs. English was introduced there by
colonial expansion and slavery. Jamaican English is a variety in Kachru's Answer: (B) outer circle. (The late Johnny Cash did appreciate your (D) answers though.) 25. A Jamiacan speaker says, "You a go burn fire, mi a go deal
you a dis, dat." He is operating in Answer: (B) although we might propose he's moving close to a mesolect if we had more speech to look at. Our best guess in this group is the basilect end of the post-creole continuum. Prince Charles didn't appreciate your choosing (C). 26. In English we pluralize most nouns by adding {S1},
pronounced as /s/, /z/, or / Answer: (D) Despite different pronunciations, there is one
inflection, the plural morpheme. In Old English, nouns had a large set
of inflections signaling case and number with different sets for
classes of nouns. Part of the history of English is this move from
synthetic grammar to analytic grammar: the reduction of inflections
often because of unstressed final syllables and analogy. The spelling
of this inflection, despite representing a couple of sounds, isn't
chaotic but very regular. |
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Short discussion questionsShort discussion questions ask you to apply some basic ideas from our course. Some examples are
Essay questionHere is the essay prompt: How should knowledge of the history of the English language affect your attitudes as young scholars, teachers, and citizens? You may add or replace roles in this list. You should develop your essay with specific examples, thoughtful distinctions, and some attention to your future study. You may not consult notes for this essay during the exam, and you should proofread your essay carefully. |
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 Final version, posted 24 April, 4 p.m. |
z/
and spelled <s> or <es>. Baugh and Cable think such a
feature supports use of