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Slav/Ling 075 Language and NationalismMidterm Spring 2006
Please code your PID and your name on the answer sheet
PLEASE NOTE: 1) You are REQUIRED to return all copies of the test questions to the exam proctor at the end of the exam hour. 2) This examination is to be taken in accordance with the Honor Code of UNC. 3) In addition to the bubble sheet with your answers to the multiple-choice questions, please be sure to hand in: a) your journal, b) a piece of paper with your name, the names of any collaborators, and a brief description of your final project topic, and c) your signature for the Honor Code. (Thank you for complying!)
1. The identity of the German language
1. can be established based on purely linguistic criteria
2. coincides with the collective political borders of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
3. can ultimately be decided only by querying speakers
4. can be determined on the basis of mutual comprehensibility
2. Name three countries that most closely approximate the “ideal” of a linguistically homogeneous nation-state:
1. Norway, Sweden, Denmark
2. Iceland, Portugal, Slovenia
3. France, Germany, Italy
4. Albania, Greece, Turkey
3. Name the language family that covers the largest territory in modern Europe
1. Slavic
2. Romance
3. Germanic
4. Celtic
5. Finno-Ugric
4. Name three languages that are mutually comprehensible
1. Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian
2. Frisian, Friulian, Swiss-German
3. Bulgarian, Romanian, Belarusian
4. Norwegian, Danish, Swedish
5. Name some non-Indo-European languages in Europe
1. Albanian & Greek
2. Latvian & Lithuanian
3. Estonian & Finnish
4. Sardinian & Frisian
6. Which language or languages have mutually incomprehensible dialects
1. Italian
2. German
3. Both Italian & German
4. Neither Italian nor German
7. What do we know about a pidgin language?
1. It is a full-fledged language in terms of grammar and vocabulary
2. It is a limited code developed for use in certain contexts (usually trade)
3. It is learned as a first language by children
4. Both 1 and 3
8. What do we know about a creole language?
1. It is a full-fledged language in terms of grammar and vocabulary
2. It is a limited code developed for use in certain contexts (usually trade)
3. It is learned as a first language by children
4. Both 1 and 3
9. What role is the European Union playing in issues of language and nationalism?
1. The EU helps defuse potential conflicts by providing a transnational authority for minority groups to appeal to
2. The EU exacerbates conflicts between minority groups and their governments by artificially raising expectations and enforcing educational policies
3. The EU encourages multilingualism through supportive standards for education and also due to increased economic opportunities
4. Both 1 and 3
10. Which of the following statements is NOT true about the status of Irish in Ireland?
1. Irish is taught in schools
2. Irish is traditionally associated with poverty
3. There are state Irish language examinations that must be passed if one is to get certain jobs
4. Revival of the Irish language has been hugely successful
11. What statement best characterizes the situation of Italian?
1. Standard Italian is a powerful unifying force and source of national identity
2. Italy has a great range of mutually incomprehensible dialects, and the nation remains fragmented and without a common means of communication
3. Identity is mostly local and tied to a local dialect, but nearly everyone also understands Standard Italian, which serves as a weak marker of national identity
4. Italians are suspicious of each other’s dialects and accents
12. Which statement is true about France?
1. Linguistic purism has succeeded in keeping out borrowings and unifying French as a homogeneous language
2. Census data provides information on the status of regional languages in France
3. The government has been progressive in supporting education in minority languages
4. French is spoken in several regional varieties, all are descendants of Latin with a Celtic substratum and a Germanic superstratum
13. How would you characterize Belgium?
1. It has three monolingual territories (French, Flemish, and German) and one bilingual territory (French & Flemish)
2. French is spoken in Walloonia, Flemish is spoken in Flanders, both are spoken in Brussels
3. It is held together by economic and historical ties and a desire to remain independent of France and the Netherlands
4. French has historically enjoyed more prestige than Flemish, which is a variant of Dutch
5. All of the above
14. What tendency generally distinguishes majority languages of large nations vs. smaller and minority languages?
1.Languages with large territories tend to have many more mutually incomprehensible dialects
2. Smaller languages suffer more from fragmentation
3. Smaller languages are more likely to have a unified standard
4. All of the above
5. Only 1 and 3
15. What happened in republics other than Russia after the collapse of the former Soviet Union?
1.There was a desire to re-assert the role of the local majority language
2. In Central Asia members of the educated classes were far more proficient in Russian than in their “native” languages, and it was difficult to re-establish these languages in the public arena
3. In the Baltic states knowledge of the local language was required for citizenship, which resulted in oppression for local ethnic Russians
4. All of the above
5. Only 1 and 2
16. What force helped to spread Standard Italian?
1.Fascism
2. Radio & TV
3. The Lega
4. All of the above
5. None of the above – Standard Italian is spoken by only 2% of the population
17. What are the Celtic minority languages of Europe?
1.Breton & Welsh
2. Corsican & Friulian
3. Irish & Scots Gaelic
4. All of the above
5. Only 1 and 3
18. What minority languages do France and Spain share?
1.Luxembourgish
2. Catalan
3. Basque
4. Only 1 and 3
5. Only 2 and 3
19. Which statement is NOT true about Sami?
1.Its speakers are found in Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Russia
2. It is linguistically homogeneous
3. It suffered decline under pressure to assimilate, especially in Norway
4. It is distantly related to Finnish
20. Which is NOT an example of diglossia?
1.Literary and spoken Russian
2. Literary and spoken Czech
3. Faroese and Danish
4. Dialectal and Standard Italian
5. Swiss-German and High German
21. What are Nynorsk and Bokmål?
1.The spoken and literary standard languages of Norway
2. The languages of Norway and Denmark
3. Two competing literary languages of Norway
4. Two spoken dialects of Norwegian
22. What are the necessary ingredients of national identity?
1.Shared history, territory, and imagination
2. Shared religion
3. Shared language
4. All of the above
5. Only 1 and 3
23. What causes diglossia?
1.Bilingual education
2. Access to media across boundaries
3. EU trade policies
4. Historical events that have promoted the use of a non-native language for formal purposes
5. All of the above
24. What do the following events all have in common: ethnic cleansings in the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia, the Greek “Megali Idea”, redrawing of political boundaries after WWI
1.They all restored the balance of harmony between language and national identity
2. They all supported the rights of ethnic minorities to use their languages
3. They all attempted to create political boundaries that corresponded to linguistic realities, but ultimately failed in this task
4. They all involved realizing the dreams of the nations involved to regain their former historical sizes
25. Can you correctly associate Katharevousa and Dhimotiki to the following descriptions? i) Ancient Greek, ii) Byzantine Greek, iii) Modern Spoken Greek, iv) Artificial mixture of Ancient, New Testament, Byzantine, and Spoken Greek
1.Katharevousa is ii) and Dhimotiki is iii)
2. Katharevousa is i) and Dhimotiki is ii)
3. Katharevousa is iv) and Dhimotiki is iii)
4. Katharevousa is iii) and Dhimotiki is iv)
5. Katharevousa is i) and Dhimotiki is iv)
26. In which place did Danish NOT serve as a literary language:
1.Norway
2. Faroe Islands
3. Finland
4. All of the above
27. What factor or factors made Africa vulnerable to colonization
1.Weak sense of linguistic nationalism
2. Focus on oral tradition rather than on a culture of numeracy and technology
3. Lack of understanding of territorial expansionism
4. All of the above
5. Only 1 and 2
28. In sub-Saharan Africa, national constitutions are available
1.Only in colonial languages
2. Only in local indigenous languages
3. In both colonial and indigenous languages
4. In Swahili as well as in colonial and indigenous languages
29. What was the attitude of the colonizers toward race and language in Africa?
1.All colonizers were racist and suppressed indigenous languages
2. All colonizers were racist but supported indigenous languages
3. The French were not racist, but they suppressed indigenous languages
4. The British were racist, but they supported indigenous languages
5. Only 3 and 4
30. Which statement best describes the gender imbalance in multilingualism in Africa?
1.Women are more multilingual than men because they participate in more social gatherings and are the bearers of oral culture
2. Men are more multilingual than women because they participate in military service, politics, and economic migrations (for jobs)
3. Men are more multilingual than women because they play leading roles in religious services
4. Both 2 and 3
31. What is “Africa’s triple linguistic heritage”?
1.Indigenous languages + Islamic legacy + Western impact
2. French, English, and Portuguese
3. Penetration, counter-penetration, and linguistic determinism
4. Colonial languages, Kiswahili, and local dialects
32. What Western languages have the most speakers in Africa?
1.English, French, and German
2. English, French, and Portuguese
3. English, French, and Spanish
4. English, French, and Dutch
33. What are Afro-ethnic languages?
1.Kiswahili and Arabic
2. Indigenous languages of Africa
3. Languages that have developed through the organic combination of indigenous and colonial influences
4. None of the above
34. What are Afro-Islamic languages?
1.Arabic
2. Swahili & Hausa
3. Nubi, Fulfulde, Mandinka
4. All of the above
35. What are Afro-Western languages?
1.English, French, and Portuguese
2. Nativized versions of English
3. Afrikaans
4. Kriyol, Pidgin, Krio, Fanagalo
5. Only 2, 3, and 4