How Languages Change and Evolve

What does it mean for two languages to be related?

• They are spoken in the same country or region.

• They are written in the same alphabet.

• They evolved from the same older language.

What is a proto-language?

• A very primitive language.

• The earliest known ancestor of a group of related languages

• A basic form of a language as spoken by people learning it

Which of these words are most likely to be borrowed from another language?

• Words for family members

• Pronouns

• Words for plants and animals

What is the difference between a language and a dialect?

• There is no defined cutoff point

• Dialects are always mutually understandable

• A language must have official status in at least one country

Which is NOT a reason for linguistic divergence?

• Migration and encountering different groups and environments

• Political and historical events

• Different brain structure among different groups of people