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HOTEL Test 1
History of the English language before the Norman conquest
70
English
Undergraduate 4
02/19/2015

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Cards

Term
How did the Christianizing of England in 597 help shape the direction of early English?
Definition
The church facilitated the introduction of Latin vocabulary into early English
Term
T/F English has grammatical gender like all other major European languages
Definition
False
Term
T/F English has lost its inflections ("grammatical endings") over the long course of its history
Definition
True
Term
T/F Our text takes the position that some languages have "built in" advantages over other languages that have allowed them to become more globally successful than others.
Definition
False
Term
T/F The key difference between a living and a dead language is that a living language has the capacity for change.
Definition
True
Term
T/F The traditional language of the gypsies descended from the Indian branch of I-E languages.
Definition
True
Term
The Poetic Edda is associated with which branch of I-E.
Definition
Germanic
Term
Which single dead language fits in the East Germanic sub-branch?
Definition
Gothic
Term
Which two languages were last to be connected to the I-E family?
Definition
Hittite / Tocharian
Term
The discovery of Hittite tablets provided evidence for which linguistic form?
Definition
Laryngeals
Term
T/F Etruscan is related to the Italic branch of I-E.
Definition
False
Term
In addition to common vocabulary, which feature of written Sanskrit allowed scholars to connect it to other I-E languages?
Definition
word endings
Term
Grimm's Law explains the relationship between which pair of sounds.
Definition
p / f
Term
Who is not discussed as a major linguist or philologist? (Nietchze, Saussure, Grimm, Verner)
Definition
Nietchze
Term
Which words helped scholars locate the homeland of the I-E?
Definition
birch / bee
Term
Which ethnic group in Europe may preserve the original language spoken before the I-E?
Definition
the Basques
Term
What part of speech is likely to preserve a fairly complete set of inflections even after the others have died out?
Definition
pronouns
Term
Which decade is closest to the Anglo-Saxon invasion of England?
Definition
440's
Term
What is the typical Germanic stress pattern in words?
Definition
Stress falls on the first syllable
Term
Who is our source of most of our knowledge of early Anglo-Saxon England?
Definition
Bede
Term
What did Anglo-Saxon poetry deal with?
Definition
violent combat, the transitory nature of life, Christian topics and saints' lives
Term
What is the only dialect of OE with significant linguistic and historical evidence?
Definition
West Saxon
Term
T/F OE demonstrates Grimm's law in pronunciation.
Definition
True
Term
T/F English derives from the North Germanic branch of languages.
Definition
False
Term
T/F We have a clear understanding of the origin of dental suffixes that we find in the past participle form of verbs.
Definition
False
Term
T/F Next to Scandinavian, Celtic was the largest influence on OE.
Definition
False
Term
How many words in "they are ill and weak" are Scandinavian?
Definition
Four; "they," "are," "ill," and "weak"
Term
Latin words associated with the wine trade entered English during which period?
Definition
Period 0
Term
What happened at the Battle of Maldon?
Definition
The English were defeated by the Danes
Term
What was Benedictine reform?
Definition
It was an attempt to revive Monasticism after a period of decline
Term
What kind of words would the English take from Scandinavian?
Definition
every day words
Term
T/F Many words of Scandinavian origin have survived in the non-standard English dialects in Northern England.
Definition
True
Term
Who writes of the conversion of the English to Christianity?
Definition
Bede
Term
Which two I-E languages were spoken in England before English (pre-449)?
Definition
Celtic, Latin
Term
How many distinct periods make up the history of English? List them
Definition
Three:
1) Old (450-1150) "Period of full inflections"
2) Middle (1150-1500) "Period of leveled inflections"
3) Modern (1500-present) "Period of lost inflections"
Term
How many dialects of OE do we identify? What are they called?
Definition
1) W. Saxon
2) Kentish
3) Mercian
4) Northumbrian
Term
What are the two types of inflectional languages?
Definition
1) Synthetic
2) Analytic
Term
What are the grammatical cases?
Definition
1) Nominative
2) Dative
3) Genitive
4) Accusative
Term
How many verb tenses are found in OE?
Definition
1) Present
2) Past
Term
Which was the only language of the Italic branch to survive?
Definition
Latin
Term
What are modern Balto-Slavic languages?
Definition
Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian
Term
T/F Lithuanian is a conservative language and preserves the same linguistic features that could be found 5,000 years ago.
Definition
True
Term
What is the earliest document occurrence of Balto-Slavic?
Definition
Old Church Slavonic
Term
What are the three branches of Germanic languages and their respective languages?
Definition
1) North (Scandinavian)
2) East (Gothic
3) West (English, German, Dutch)
Term
What two Celtic languages still exist?
Definition
1) Gaelic
2) Welsh
Term
What is an isolgloss?
Definition
A geographic boundary of a linguistic feature (Ex. Centum / Satem division)
Term
What work by Bede was the main source of information about Anglo-Saxon England?
Definition
Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731)
Term
What features of OE are shared by all Germanic languages?
Definition
1) Grimm's law (1st consonant shift)
2) "weak" and "strong" adjectives
3) Weak verbs formed with dental preterits (-ed)
4) Strong stress accent on first syllable
Term
How much OE vocab didn't survive into Modern English?
Definition
85%
Term
What unique spellings are in OE?
Definition
sc / sh ; cg / dg ; c / k
Term
What is a synthetic language?
Definition
Words relate together by means of inflection rather than word order. This most commonly is achieved through suffixes and prefixes.
Term
What is inflection?
Definition
grammatical word endings that are added like suffixes to the root and carry grammatical information like number, case, and gender
Term
Morphology
Definition
the area of linguistics or philology that focuses on inflections
Term
Cases
Definition
denote the specific grammatical function of a noun, adjective, or pronoun
Term
Differences between OE and ME.
Definition
1) Use of case to denote syntax functions
2) OE was highly inflected
3) Differentiation of strong and weak verbs (now it is mostly weak)
4) OE has gender
5) Pronouns had dual meaning (you too, we too)
6) 3rd person lacked the "th"
Term
T/F London's name derives from Scandinavian origin.
Definition
False, it is Celtic
Term
3 Periods of Latin Influence on English
Definition
Period 0- Latin words introduced to continental Brits through the wine trade (pre 449 A.D.)
Period 1- Latin via Celtic (449-597)
Period 2- Latin through Christianity (597-1066)
Term
What is i-mutation?
Definition
The raising and fronting of a root vowel in anticipation of the "i" or "-y" sound in a suffix; it is a form of vowel harmony In full swing by 8th century

Example man/men: OE "manniz" shifted to "menniz" which shortened to "men"
Term
Why does uncial have two forms in English?
Definition
1) One was pre i-mutation (ounce)
2) the other was post i-mutation (inch)
Term
What is the "sk" test?
Definition
Words from Scandinavian origin often begin with "sk." For example "skirt" is Scandinavian while "shirt" is OE.
Term
Hard pronunciation of "g" or "k"
Definition
Gives away Scandinavian origin (kid, egg, get, give)
Term
Patronym
Definition
Means "family name"
1) -son in ON
2) -ing in OE
Term
Semantic doublets
Definition
Two words from OE and ON that are related in form or meaning but have different semantic range
Ex. No (OE) v. Nay (ON)
Whole (OE) v. Hale (ON)
Rear (OE) v. Raise (ON)
Term
What origin is "they, them, and their" ?
Definition
Scandinavian
Term
What origin is "are?"
Definition
Scandinavian
Term
What origin is "be" and "syndon?"
Definition
Old English
Term
What grammatical endings are borrowed from Scandinavian?
Definition
1) -s on 3rd person singular forms of verbs
2) -ing on present participle
Term
What are the four areas of language change?
Definition
1) Phonological
2) Morphological
3) Syntax
4) Lexical
Term
What are the linguistic changes in Grimm's Law?
Definition
p / f
t / th
k / h
b / p
d / t
g / k
Term
What does Verner's law state?
Definition
The regularity of Grimm's law is broken by stress patterns and environment.
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