Unit #5 Languages

From most distant to closest relatives, languages can be classified into which of the following orders?

• families, branches, and groups.

• branches, families, and groups.

• branches, groups, and families.

• families, groups, and branches.

• groups, branches, and families.

Ethnologue estimates the world has more than ______ spoken languages.

• 10

• 1,000

• 7,000

• 10,000

• 7,000,000

A language still used by older people but is NOT in the process of being transmitted to children is known as

• an elderly language

• a dying language

• a threatened language

• a vigorous language

• a developing language

A language used in education, work, mass media and government with a literary tradition is known as

• an institutional language

• a developing language

• an official language

• a dying language

• a vigorous language

A collection of languages within a family related through a common ancestral language is a:

• language family

• language branch

• language group

• language tree

• literary tradition

Two-thirds of the people in the world speak a language which belongs to:

• the Indo-European family

• the Sino-Tibetan family

• the Indo-European or Turkic family

• the Sino-Tibetan or Turkic family

• the Indo-European or Sino-Tibetan family

A language spoken in daily use by people of all ages but lacks a literary tradition is known as:

• a pidgin language

• a developing language

• a vigorous language

• a language branch

• a lingua franca

A group of languages that share a common origin but have since evolved into individual languages is a:

• dialect

• language branch

• language family

• language group

• language root

A group of languages that share a common ancestor before recorded history is a:

• dialect

• language branch

• language family

• language group

• language root

Tens of thousands of years ago, languages may have been joined together as:

• branches

• superfamilies

• groups

• lingua franca

• families