Languages Today Quiz

According to “The Case of the Disappearing Words,” which of the following is true of languages today?

• The number of languages in use is declining, so people are working to preserve them.

• The number of languages in use is increasing as people communicate with different cultures.

• The number of languages in use is stable thanks to new appreciation for their importance.

• The number of languages in use was declining, but the efforts of linguists have helped to increase them.

According to “The Case of the Disappearing Words,” which of the following is most likely to be true of a critically endangered language (the most endangered category of language)?

• A.

  There are no known people who speak the language.

• 
  

  B.

  Few people other than grandparents speak the language.

• C.

  Children are the only ones who regularly speak the language.

• D.

  The language is spoken regularly indoors but not much outdoors.

According to “The Case of the Disappearing Words,” what strategy did Hawaiians use to help their language come back?

• A.

  They opened a school where only Hawaiian is spoken.

• B.

  They created an app where people can text in Hawaiian.

• C.

  They preserved recordings of people speaking in Hawaiian.

• 
  

  D.

  They opened a museum dedicated to the Hawaiian language.

According to “The Case of the Disappearing Words,” what did Eliezer Ben-Yehuda do to help bring back the Hebrew language? Choose all that apply.

• A.

  He wrote religious texts in Hebrew.

• B.

  He founded a nation that spoke Hebrew.

• C.

  He created Hebrew words for modern things.

• D.

  He convinced teachers to hold classes in Hebrew.

• E.

  He built a museum dedicated to the Hebrew language.

What do linguists study?

• A.

  stories

• B.

  history

• 
  

  C.

  culture

• D.

  language

What are you doing when you are pronouncing a word?

• • A.

    You are writing it down.

  
  

• • B.

    You are speaking it aloud.

  
  

• C.

  You are reading it in context.

• D.

  You are recalling its meaning.

Which of the following best shows the meaning of lecture?

• 
  

  A.

  My mother made me feel better when I was upset.

• B.

  My brother whispered a joke to me at the dinner table.

• C.

  The boss spoke harshly to his workers for not working hard.

• D.

  The doctor explained how often the patient should take the medicine.

Which quotation from “The Case of the Disappearing Words” suggests that studying another language can help people appreciate ideas that their own language does not have words for?

• A.

  The Seri word moosni hant cooit (mohs nee ahnt koh eet), meaning "green turtle that descends," revealed something no one else knew—that green turtles hibernate, or overwinter, on the sea floor.

• B.

  In Welsh, it rains not cats and dogs, but old wives and walking sticks.

• C.

  The elegant Seri term for a car muffler means "into which the breathing descends.

• D.

  If your neighbor pops in every day, you might be dealing with what the Ojibway call mawadishiweshkiwin, the habit of making visits too often.

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A
According to “The Case of the Disappearing Words,” what is one important reason that people stop speaking a language?

• A.

  They want to be accepted by other people.

• 
  

  B.

  They do not have books written in the language.

• C.

  They realize another language is more advanced.

• D.

  They do not think the language should be preserved.

Part B
Which quotation from “The Case of the Disappearing Words” most clearly supports the answer to Part A?

• A.

  Now Navajo children are unlikely to grow up speaking the language fluently.

• B.

  Earth is home to around 7,000 languages, but linguists are rushing to catalog them because around half are expected to disappear by 2100.

• C.

  Sometimes younger generations stop learning a language because parents want children to fit in and get jobs in the majority culture.

• D.

  Sometimes societies force minorities to give up language and traditions.