01
True or false
1 point
True or false: When a language is changing, speakers in different regions or generations may use different forms at the same time.
Free Practice Quiz Question List
10 Language Change Online Quiz Questions
Use this free practice quiz with 20 questions to review 10 Language Change, test your knowledge, and prepare for your next test or exam.
20 questions
02
Written response
1 point
What is the linguistic term for a common ancestral language from which related languages descend?
03
Fill in the blank
1 point
When two formerly distinct sounds become one sound, the change is a sound .
04
Choose one
1 point
Which interpretation best explains the use of “going to” in “I’m going to call”?
- A
The phrase “going to” describes movement toward a place in both sentences.
- B
The phrase “going to” in “I’m going to call” illustrates a grammatical construction that expresses a future plan.
- C
The phrase “going to” is an example of a borrowed word from another language.
- D
The phrase “going to” illustrates internal reconstruction from irregular forms.
05
Choose all
1 point
Which actions are part of the comparative method? Select all that apply.
- A
Identify likely inherited cognates.
- B
Compare sounds and meanings across languages.
- C
Look for recurring sound correspondences across many words.
- D
Treat one similar-looking word as sufficient proof of common ancestry.
06
Written response
1 point
What is the linguistic term for inferring earlier patterns from irregularities or alternations within a single language?
07
True or false
1 point
True or false: The comparative method can sometimes reach further back into a language’s history than surviving written records.
- A
True
- B
False
08
Fill in the blank
1 point
Languages descended from a proto-language are often called its .
09
Choose one
1 point
Which definition best describes cognates in historical linguistics?
- A
Words that happen to sound alike, whether related or not.
- B
Words borrowed from one language into another.
- C
Words or morphemes inherited from a common ancestor.
- D
Words that have changed grammatical roles over time.
10
Choose all
1 point
Which statements accurately distinguish sound change from analogy? Select all that apply.
- A
A sound change may affect sounds only in a particular context.
- B
Analogy can reshape an irregular form to match a more familiar pattern.
- C
Analogy and sound change are two names for the same process.
- D
A sound change must affect every sound in every word.
11
Choose one
1 point
What does a language-family tree primarily represent?
- A
The number of words two languages have borrowed from each other.
- B
Descent and branching as related language varieties develop into distinct languages.
- C
The order in which linguists discovered similarities between languages.
- D
The degree to which two languages have identical pronunciations.
12
Choose one
1 point
English father, Latin pater, and Sanskrit pitṛ show an English f corresponding to p in the other forms. What conclusion is best supported by this example alone?
- A
It proves that English, Latin, and Sanskrit are unrelated.
- B
It illustrates a correspondence, but more repeated examples are needed to establish a sound rule.
- C
It proves that English borrowed “father” from Latin.
- D
It shows that sound changes cannot follow regular patterns.
13
Open ended
1 point
Explain how written records and the comparative method provide different kinds of evidence about language history. Include why a reconstructed ancestral form is not treated as a directly observed pronunciation.
14
Choose one
1 point
A speaker says, “I’m going to call you tomorrow,” without meaning that they will travel anywhere. Which kind of language change does this use illustrate?
- A
It describes movement toward a place in every use.
- B
It can develop a future meaning and function as a grammatical construction.
- C
It is an example of two sounds merging.
- D
It shows that English and the store’s language share a proto-language.
15
True or false
1 point
A sound change can affect a sound only in a particular position, such as at the end of a word.
- A
True
- B
False
16
Choose one
1 point
In a language, speakers no longer distinguish two sounds that were once pronounced differently. Which sound-change outcome does this describe?
- A
A previously absent sound is added to the language.
- B
A sound is lost only at the beginning of every word.
- C
Two formerly distinct sounds come to be pronounced as one.
- D
An irregular word form is reshaped to match a familiar pattern.
17
Written response
1 point
What linguistic term describes words or morphemes inherited from a common ancestor?
18
Choose one
1 point
Two languages have similar-looking words. Which additional finding would provide the strongest evidence that the languages share a common ancestor?
- A
One word in each language sounds similar, with no other matching words.
- B
The languages share several recently borrowed words.
- C
Their speakers currently live in neighboring regions.
- D
Many words show recurring sound correspondences that fit a shared pattern.
19
Choose one
1 point
A linguist has compared many words in related languages and noticed recurring sound correspondences. What is the appropriate next step in the comparative method?
- A
Propose a sound change from one matching pair, then check whether any other words fit.
- B
Find recurring sound correspondences across many words, then propose changes that could explain them.
- C
Assume that similar-looking words were inherited, then reconstruct their pronunciations.
- D
Reconstruct an ancestral form first, then use it to decide whether words have similar meanings.
20
Written response
1 point
What is the name of the method that infers earlier patterns from irregularities or alternations within a single language?