CBA 3 includes TWO essay questions.

Question 1 – Chapter 7 Language in Society

Read chapter 7. Consider the following quotes from chapter 7:

“All speakers of English can talk to each other and pretty much understand each other. Yet, no two of us speak exactly alike. Some differences are the result of age, sex, social situation, and where and when the language was learned. These differences are reflected in word choices, the pronunciation of words, and grammatical rules. The language of an individual speaker with its unique characteristics is referred to as the speaker’s idiolect. English may then be said to consist of anywhere from 450 million to 850 million idiolects, or the number of speakers of English” (Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, 2014, p. 279).

“Like individuals, different groups of people who speak the same language speak it differently. . . . When there are systematic differences in the way groups speak a language, we say that each group speaks a dialect of that language” (Fromkin et al., 2014, p. 279).

“Every speaker . . . speaks at least one dialect, just as each individual speaks an idiolect” (Fromkin et al., 2014, pp. 279-280).

Then respond to this question on chapter 7:

Identify some of the speech communities you belong to and discuss elements that characterize your own idiolect and dialect(s). In your discussion, incorporate relevant key concepts from chapter 7 (below). Underline and bold first use of key concepts included. Be sure that any concepts used are adequately explained, defined, or characterized. (Recognize that you are not required to use all of the concepts.)

Chapter 7 Key Concepts speech community

idiolects and dialects

dialect leveling

regional dialect

accents

RP (received pronunciation)

language purists

dialect maps and dialect atlases

DARE (Dictionary of American Regional English)

SAE-Standard American English (prestige dialects)

genderlects

pidgins and creoles

bilingualism

codeswitching

slang, jargon, taboo, euphemisms

denotative meaning and connotative meaning

marked and unmarked forms

secret languages and language games

Question 2 – Chapter 8 Language Change

Read chapter 8. Consider the following quote from Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams (2014):

“All living languages change with time. It is fortunate that they do so rather slowly compared to the human life span. It would be inconvenient to have to relearn our native language every twenty years. As years pass we hardly notice any change. Yet if we were to turn on a radio and miraculously receive a broadcast in our ‘native language’ from the year 1000, we would probably think we had tuned into a foreign language station” (p. 337).

Then respond to the following essay prompt on chapter 8:

Write a two-page essay in which you discuss ideas you found of significance in chapter 8 on language change. Specifically, how do languages change over time? Incorporate relevant key concepts from chapter 8 provided below. Underline and bold first use of concepts used in your response.

Chapter 8 Key Concepts

historical or comparative linguistics

Proto-Germanic/protolanguage/Indo-European (or Proto Indo-European)

The Great Vowel Shift

wordification (see the cartoon on page 350 and the discussion following it)

compounding

coinage

eponyms

blends

reduced words (clipping, acronyms, alphabetic abbreviations)

borrowing and loan words

etymology

Sir William Jones

Rasmus Rask

Jakob Grimm

Grimm’s Law

extinct and endangered languages

four primary types of language death (sudden language death; radical language death; gradual language death; bottom-to-top-language death)

genetic classification of languages

SVO/SOV

[Here are some questions to think about.]

How long has English been a written language?

What does it mean to say languages are genetically related?

How do we know that the Germanic and Romance languages have a common ancestor?

When did the Great Vowel Shift take place? What was a result of the Great Vowel Shift?

What type of document do linguists prefer when using the comparative method? Why?

How do puns and rhymes help linguists to study language?

Where does English fall on the Indo-European family tree?

How many languages are estimated to exist in the world today?

What language orders comprise the dominant patterns observed in the world’s languages?

Be able to give an example of clipping, an acronym, and an alphabetic abbreviation.

Requirements:

Essay responses must be typed, double spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font, standard margins (unjustified), black ink, in APA citation format. All papers should be well written, thoroughly proofread and edited, well organized and appropriately formatted. See the “Guidelines for Written Work” in the course syllabus.

Papers will be evaluated on content, ability to demonstrate understanding of the material, organization, style, language, format, and citation. Be sure to use paragraphs to organize your material, choose substantive ideas to discuss, and proofread, edit, and revise your paper. Be sure to cite fully and carefully and be sure that you are submitting original work.

Length: Each response should be limited to two pages maximum, for a total of four pages maximum for CBA 3.