SOCIOLINGUISTICS QUESTIONS

SGU
1. What does sociolinguistics yoke
sociology with?
 + Sociolinguistics yokes sociology with
linguistics.
a. society b. linguistics c. grammar
2. What kind of codes are acceptable for
communication and interaction in every
society?
 + Linguistic codes are acceptable for
communication and interaction in every
society.
a. linguistic b. social c. technical
3. Is language by its nature a natural
phenomenon?
 + No, it isn’t. It is totally a social
phenomenon.

a. No b. Yes c. No
information

4. What does sociolinguistics have to do

with?
+ Sociolinguistics has to do with
language use and a society’s response
to it.

5. What does sociology investigate?

 + Sociology investigates the individual and
social variation of language.

6. What can regional/ individual variation

of language give a lot of information
about?
+ Regional/ individual variation of language
can give a lot of information about the
place the speaker is from.
a. languageb. community c. place
7. What does social variation of language
tell us about?
+ Social variation of language tells us about
the roles performed by a given speaker
within one community.
a. career b. roles c. education
8. What is the focus of sociolinguistics?
+ The focus of sociolinguistics is the effect of
society on the language.
a. the effect of society on the language
b. the effect of education on the language
c. the effect of authority on the language
9. What does the sociology of language
focus on?
+ The sociology of language focuses on
the language’s effect on the society.
a. the language’s effect on the education.
b. the language’s effect on the society.
c. the language’s effect on the religion.
10. What is one of the most noticeable
features characterizing some regional
feature of a language?
+ One of the most easily noticeable features
characterising some regional feature of a
language is most certainly accent.
a. place b. accent c. movement
11. What is accent frequently confused
with?
+ Accent is frequently confused with the term
dialect which denotes aspects of
pronunciation together with words and syntax
slightly different from the standard variety.

12. In which situation does diglossia refer

to?
+ Diglossia refers to such a linguistic
situation, when one variety of language
is considered more prestigious and one
move vernacular, but both are in use
depending on situation.
13. What are other factors influencing
language change apart from regional
variations of a language?
+ Apart from regional variations of a language
within the boundaries of a country or speech
community, there are other factors, which are
foreign languages, social and political factors,
influencing language change.

14. What is a pidgin?

+ A pidgin, or a contact language, is a mixture of
two other languages, created usually
because of trading purposes between
peoples who do not share a common means
of communication.

15. What is the next stage of development

for pidgin with different grammatical
features?
+ Creole is the next stage of development for
pidgin with different grammatical features.
a. creole b. dialect c. genre
16. What is the process of the
development of a pidgin into a creole
called?
+ The process of the development of a pidgin
into a creole is called creolisation.
a. decreolisation b. creolisation c. processing
17. What are two processes stimulating
further change of a language ?
+ Creolisation and decreolisation are two
processes stimulating further change of a
language
18. What is a variety of a language?
+ A variety of a language is a form that differs
from other forms of the language
systematically and coherently.

19. What can varieties be distinguished by?

+ Varieties such as dialects, idiolects, and
sociolects can be distinguished, not only
by their vocabulary, but also by
differences in grammar, phonology and
prosody.
20. What is one example for illustrating
that variety can be distinguished by
differences in grammar?
+ Certain professional registers such as
legalese show a variation in grammar
from the standard language.

21. What can the concept of language

varieties in general, and language
register in particular, be of great help in?
+ The concept of language varieties in general,
and language registers in particular, can be of
great help in translating as well as in
evaluating translations.

22. Why is it useful sometimes to refer to

considerations of register?
+ It will be useful sometimes to refer to
considerations of register since the concept
of a “whole language” is so broad and
therefore rather loose, it is not altogether
useful for many linguistic purposes, whether
descriptive or comparative.

23. Why is it necessary to have varieties?

 + Because the need arises for a scientific
classification of sub-language or varieties
within the total range of one language.
24. What is the first way of classifying
language varieties according to?
+ Dialects are the first way of classifying
language varieties according to geographical
dispersion, and standard and substandard
English as varieties within different ranges of
education and social position.

25. What is the second way of classifying

language varieties according to?
+ Language registers are the second way of
classifying language varieties according to
different subject matters.

26. What is another way of classifying

language varieties according to?
+ Another way of classifying language varieties is
according to the user or the use of language.

27. What do the language varieties have in

common?
+ The language varieties of any given language
have certain linguistic features in common.

28. What do the common features of all

the varieties of one language constitute ?
+ These common features of all the varieties of
one language constitute the common core of
that language.

29. What are the markers of the language

variety?
+ The markers of the language variety are on
any level: phonetic, syntactical, stylistic and,
above all, lexical.

30. What is a variety of a language ?

+ It is a form that differs from other forms
of the language.

31. Which types of variety presupposes the

presence of the interlocutor, the spoken
or written variety?
+ It is the spoken variety.
- __________ presupposes the presence of the
interlocutor.
a. the spoken variety b. the written variety
c. Both a and b
32. What factors make the spoken language
have a considerable advantage over the
written language?
+ They are human voice and all kinds of
gestures, which give additional information.
- _______ make the spoken language have a
considerable advantage over the written
language
a. human voice b. all kinds of gestures
c. Both a and b
33. What is the written language more than the
spoken language?
+ It is more carefully organized, more
explanatory, and more deliberate in word
choice than the spoken language.

34. Why does the spoken language vanish after

having fulfilled its purpose of communicating
the thought?
 + The spoken language vanishes after having
fulfilled its purpose of communicating the
thought because it is spontaneous,
momentary.
- The spoken language is _________.
a. spontaneous b. momentary
c. Both a and b
35. Is the spoken language able to live with the
idea it expresses?
+ No, it isn’t. The written language is able to live
forever with the idea it expresses.
- _________is able to live forever with the idea
it expresses.
a. The written language b. The spoken
language c. Both a and b

36. How does the spoken language differ from

the written language ?
+ The spoken language differs from the written
language phonetically, morphologically,
lexically and syntactically.

37. What is the most striking difference

between the spoken and written languages ?
+ The most striking difference between the
spoken and written languages is in the
vocabulary used.

38. What kinds of words does the spoken

language widely use?
+ The spoken language widely uses intensifying
words.
- The spoken language widely uses _________.
a. euphemizing words b. intensifying words
c. modal words
39. What is the essential difference between the
spoken and written varieties reflected in?
+ It is reflected in the syntactical structure.
- The essential difference between the spoken
and written varieties is reflected in _______.
a. the lexical context b. the phonetic
environment c. the syntactical structure

40. What does the spoken language use to

indicate the grammatical meaning in
questions?
+ It uses intonation to indicate the grammatical
meaning in questions.
- The spoken language uses _______ to indicate
the grammatical meaning in questions.
a. intonation b. stress c. pronunciation

41. What does speech acts and speech events

relate to in society?
+ They relate to language performance in
society.
- Speech acts and speech events relate to
_________ in society
a. Language performance b. grammatical
performance c. speaker’s meaning
42. What are speech acts ?
+ They are utterances that involve both
language and social information.

43. Where and when does every speech have

the function to perform?
+ Every speech has the function to perform in
the place and time of usage.
- Every speech has the function to perform in
the place and time of ______.
a. Report b. usage c. repetition
44. What are the four important categories of
speech acts?
+They are locutionary acts, illocutionary acts,

perlocutionary acts and propositional acts.

45. What are illocutionary acts central to ?

+ They are central to communication.
- Illocutionary acts are central to ________.
a. Performance b. information c. communication

46. What do speech events relate to ?

+ They relate to social interactional events.

47. What is setting?

+ It is the situation where interaction takes
place.

48. What norms do they have to do with ?

+ They have to do with the reactions given to
the thing being communicated.

49. What does genre have to do with?

+ It has to do with the process of
communication.

50. What do speech acts and speech events

account for in the society?
+ They account for the ways that language is
put to use by individual in the society.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Sociolinguistics is ……
a. a discipline that yokes society with linguistics.
b. a discipline that yokes sociology with
linguistics.
c. a discipline that yokes socio with linguistics.
2. Every society has linguistic codes …….
a. acceptable for communication and
interaction.
b. acceptable for communication and sociology.
c. acceptable for linguistics and interaction.
3. Language by its nature is ……
a. totally a grammatical phenomenon.
b. totally a lexical phenomenon.
c. totally a social phenomenon.
4. Sociolinguistics has to do with ….
a. language use and a society’s phenomenon to
it.
b. language use and a society’s response to it.
c. language and a society’s response to it.
GOOD LUCK!