Universidad Estatal a Distancia

Formación Profesional Docente 1

Código: 09884. Nivel: Licenciatura
Profesor Tutor: MSc. José R Araya Martínez
Estudiante: David Villalobos Betancourt

Banco de Ítemes para el Curso Diacronía de la Lengua Inglesa

de la Universidad Nacional, Sede Chorotega

I. Ítemes de Respuesta Múltiple

Instrucción: Multiple choice. Read each question or statement carefully. Then,
circle the letter of the correct answer. 1 point each

1. Sir William’s original insight suggested that

a. a number of languages must have a common ancestor.
b. English should be spoken in the courts.
c. Old English had fewer vowels than contemporary English.
d. the industrial revolution would change English.

2. Philology is
a. the diachronic study of French.
b. the study of Norman languages.
c. the historical study of languages.
d. the study of philosophy.

3. The great-grand-mother of languages is referred to as

a. Balto-Slavic
b. Indo-Iranian
c. Proto-Indo-European
d. Comparative reconstruction

4. Words that have similar forms and similar meanings is different languages are known
as
a. Language changes.
b. Proto.
c. Cognates.
d. Syllabic.

5. The aim of this procedure is to reconstruct what must have been the original form in
the common ancestral language.
a. comparative reconstruction
b. linguistic reconstruction
c. modern linguistics
d. Diachronic study

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6. The primary source for what developed as the English language were
a. Latin and Greek.
b. the medieval languages.
c. the French dialects.
d. the Germanic languages.

7. Northern Europeans that came to plunder and eventually settle in parts of the coastal
regions of Britain were the
a. Vikings
b. Normans
c. Romans
d. Hebrews

8. During the period of Middle English, an English version of French was

a. the prestige language
b. the language of the peasants
c. the language spoken by the invaders
d. the language of the French

9. Epenthesis involves
a. a reversal in position of two adjoining sounds.
b. an addition of a sound to the middle of a word.
c. the addition of a sound to the beginning of a word.
a. a reversal in position of two words.

10. Prothesis is
a. a reversal in position of two adjoining sounds.
b. an addition of a sound to the middle of a word.
c. the addition of a sound to the beginning of a word.
a. a reversal in position of two words.

11. Metathesis is described as

a. a reversal in position of two adjoining sounds.
b. an addition of a sound to the middle of a word.
c. the addition of a sound to the beginning of a word.
a. a reversal in position of two words.

12. The most obvious way in which Modern English differs lexically from Old English is
in
a. the loss of inflectional affixes.
b. the addition of nasal sounds.
c. the number of borrowed words.
d. the great vowel shift.

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13. When it comes to syntactic changes, some noticeable differences between the
structure of sentences in Old English and Modern English involve
a. word order
b. correct nasalization
c. lazy articulation
d. addition of sounds

14. The Prologue of Beowulf, the poem, describes the History of

a. Grendel
b. Grendel´s father
c. the Danes
d. Beowulf

15. Beowulf is set in

a. a male dominated world
b. in the Medieval age
c. in a protestant town
d. in a lost city

II. Ítemes de definición de conceptos

Part 1. Concepts. Define and/or explain the following concepts from middle
and modern English. Be precise and concise. 10 points

1. Hundred Years’ War

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

2. Industrial Revolution
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

3. Peasants
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

4. Modern English
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

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 5. Anglo-Norman:
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

6. Latin:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

7. Black Death:
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

8. Canterbury Tales:
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

9. King James Version:

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

10. Middle English:

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

III. Ítemes de Completar

Instrucción: Complete the following sentences to create correct statements. Use
either words or complete phrases depending on the need. 2 each.

1. “The reverse process, called ________________________, has overtaken the Old

English word hund, once used for any kind of dog, but now, as hound used only for
some specific breeds.”

2. “An example of ________________________ of meaning is the change from holy day

as a religious feast to the very general break from work called a holiday.”

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3. The study on variation in language from the historical perspective of change through
time is called ________________________ study.

4. The study of language is terms of differences within one language is different places
and among different groups at the same time is known as
______________________________study.

5. ______________________________ is the variety of English that forms the basis of

printed English in newspapers and books, which is used in mass media and which is
taught in school.

6. The term _______________________ is restricted to the description of aspects of

pronunciation which identify where an individual speaker is from.

7. The term _________________________describes features of grammar and

vocabulary.

8. An __________________________ represents a boundary between the areas with

regard to a particular linguistic item.

9. A _____________________ is a variety of a language which develops for some

practical purpose such as trading.

10. Most of us grow up with some form of _____________________________, speaking

differently in both the street and the school.

11. The Great Vowel Shift started as early as the _________________century.

12. “The round shape of d, and the f that extends below the baseline” are two well
documented characteristics of _______________________________________.

13. Christianity was introduced among Anglo-Saxons by

______________________________________.

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14. The Hundred Years’ War was between England and __________________________.

15. The man who brought the printing press to England was
__________________________________.

16. During the Great Vowel Shift there was a large influx of Latin and
__________________________ borrowings and neologisms.

17. The Scientific and Industrial revolution caused a development of ________________

vocabulary.

18. Before Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity, their religion was

______________________.

19. The “Canterbury Tales” was written by __________________________________.

20. As a literary work, Beowulf is classified as ________________________________.

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 IV. Ejercicios de Análisis
Instrucción: Analysis. Answer the following questions correctly. Be careful with
grammar and punctuation.

1. The following text is written in Old English. Read it carefully. Then,

describe two characteristics of the syntax of that period. Provide
examples from the texts. 5 points

Line Original Translation

[1] Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum, Father ours, thou that art in heaven,
[2] Si þin nama gehalgod. Be thy name hallowed.
[3] To becume þin rice, Come thy rich (kingdom),
gewurþe ðin willa, on eorðan swa swa Worth (manifest) thy will, on earth also
[4]
on heofonum. as in heaven.
Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us
[5] Our daily loaf sell (give) us today,
todæg,
and forgyf us ure gyltas, swa swa we And forgive us our guilts as also we
[6]
forgyfað urum gyltendum. forgive our guilty
And ne gelæd þu us on costnunge, ac And lead thou us not in temptation, but
[7]
alys us of yfele. loose (release) us of evil.
[8] Soþlice. Soothly.

2. What sound changes are illustrated by the following pairs? Explain

why. 6 points, 2 each.

a. thridda → third

b. glimsian → glimpse

c. scribere → escribir
3. With the following data to work from, complete the list of proto-
forms (write the words in the spaces given), and describe the three
different processes that must have taken place in the development of
this language set. Justify your answers. 8 points. 2 each task.

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1.______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
__
2.______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
__
3.______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
__

4. You should be able to understand the following recipe for Oystres in

Gravey, from the late Middle English period. Rewrite this text (quoted
in Hughes, 1988) in contemporary English, noting all the differences
(e.g. hem) and how you decided on your translations of unfamiliar
words (e.g. caste). 15 points (10 for the transcription and 5 for the
explanations). You may use additional paper for this exercise. Only a
complete answer will be graded.

Take almondes, and blanche hem, and grinde hem, and drawe
hem thorgh a streynour with wyne, and with goode fressh broth
into gode mylke, and sette hit on the fire and lete boyle; and caste
therto Maces, clowes, Sugar, pouder of Ginger, and faire
parboiled oynons mynced; And then take faire oystres, and
parboyle hem togidre in faire water; And then caste hem thereto;
And lete hem boyle togidre til they ben yknowe; and serve hem
forth for gode potage.
Task taken from: Yule, George (1996).The Study of Language.
Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom.
5. Comparison. The following example illustrates one of the well
documented sound changes of the most natural development principle.
Explain which one it is and why. 4 points

/fuinki/ for /funiki/ (雰囲気), meaning "atmosphere" or "mood"

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6. Pay careful attention to the following sets of words. There is one
sound change that is evident. Which one is it? Explain why. 3 points

Latin stupidus > Spanish/Portuguese estúpido

7. Pay attention to the following set of words. Which sound change

takes place? Explain what this sound change is about and provide one
more example. 3 points

(Reconstructed) Proto-Greek *amrotos > Ancient Greek ambrotos ("immortal")

8. In the following box you are faced with some examples from three
languages. Come up with a comparative reconstruction and decide
what the most likely proto-form was. Write the proto-form words in the
spaces and explain your procedure to arrive at conclusions. 4 points

Proto-Form____________________________________

V. Ítemes de Falso y Verdadero con respuesta de clarificación

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1. __________ Epenthesis involves the addition of a sound to the middle of
a word.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

2. __________ To study a language diachronically means that you study

its phonetics and phonology.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

3. __________ The majority principle is a theory that was developed

during the Old English Period, by King James who invaded the authorized
the method.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

4. __________ The aim of comparative reconstruction is to compare

reconstruct Old English so people can learn to speak it.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

5. __________ Narrowing is useful to study only American English.

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

6. __________ The change known as metathesis involves a reversal in the

position of two adjoining sentences.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

7. ___________ In the Most Natural Development Principle the final vowel

often disappears.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

8. __________ Modern English has more vowel sounds than Old English.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

9. __________ The primary source for what developed as the English

language were the Germanic languages spoken Angles, Saxons and the
Jutes.

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 ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

10. __________ During the Old English period, English was spoken mostly by
the peasants.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

11. __________Standard English is the variety which forms the basis of

printed English in newspapers and books.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

12. __________Only the speakers of English as a Second Language have an

accent.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

13. __________A dialect describes features of grammar and vocabulary.

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

14. __________Regional dialects are often the pride for those living in
different regions.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

15. __________An isogloss represents a boundary between countries with

regard to a particular cultural characteristic.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

16. __________A person who speaks the dialect of the “street” and the dialect
of the “school” is bilingual.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

17. __________A pidgin has native speakers.

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

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 18. __________A Creole develops from language planning.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

19. __________A basilect is the variety closer to the external model.

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

20. __________Being bidialectal is related to speaking only both English and

Spanish fluent and accurately.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

VI. Ítemes de Respuesta corta

1. Explain one reason why the printing press was a major factor in the
development of modern English. (3 pts)

2. What was the Great Vowel Shift about? Explain it. (2 pts)

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3. What does the Great Vowel Shift mark in the history of English? (2 pts)

4. How was the vowel “a” pronounced in the word “make” before the Great
Vowel Shift? (1 pt)

5. Describe one event related to politics that influenced the development of

Middle English. (2 points)

6. What historical event is considered to have “marked” the beginning of

Middle English and why? (2 pts)

7. Who was Shakespeare and what was his contribution to Modern English?
(2 pts)

8. How can you use the word “cow” and “beef” to illustrate the influence of
the Normans on English? (3 pts)

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9. What role did the Black Death play in the development of English? (1 pt)

10. What is the most famous example of Middle English and why? (3 pt)

11. Explain how the Statute of Pleading influenced the history of English. (2
pts)

12. Explain at least three changes that took place in the pronunciation of
English during the Great Vowel Shift. (4 pts)

13. Explain three reasons why the printing press was a major factor in the
development of modern English. (3 pts)

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 14. What are three characteristics of the writing system of Middle English? (5
pts)

15. What are three evident pronunciation changes that took place during the
Middle English period? (5 pts)

VIII. Ítemes de completar cuadros

Complete the following charts with accurate information.

Chart 1
Title Romeo and Juliet
Author (1 pt)

Settings (3 pts)

Genre (Type of
Literature) (1 pt)

Families that are

Fighting (2 pts)

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Summary of the
plot 4 points)

Chart 2
Title The Canterbury Tales
Author (1 pt)

Genre (Type of
Literature) (1 pt

Date of
composition (2
pts)
Summary of the
plot (6 pts)

Chart 3

Based on the illustration below; list two characteristics of Old English

calligraphy, and two characteristics of the Old English alphabet system.
6 points

Calligraphy Alphabet

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1. 1.

2. 2.

Chart 4

B. Complete the following Historical Chart based on our discussions

and readings in class. 8 points

Periods Languages that Two important historical

influenced or events that influenced
preceded English
English
Pre-English 3. 6. Roman occupation of
Britain.

Date: 7.
1._____________

4. 8.

The Old English

5. 9.
Date: 2.
____________

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 Chart 5

D. Based on the study of Beowulf, complete the following chart. 4

points

Antagonists Protagonist Type of Setting

Literary Work

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