1.

Mat
chthest
ruct
ure
sinthele
ft-
handcol
umnwi
tht
hea
reaofl
ingui
st
icsi
nwhi
cht
hey
a
rest
udie
dintheri
ght
-handcolumn.

Ans
wer:
(
1)Thes
truc
tur
eofwor
ds
b.mor phology
(
2)wor dorder/st
ructureofc
laus
es
c.syntax
(
3)theme aningofwor ds
d.sema nt
ics
(
4)i
ndividualsounds
a.
phone ti
cs/phonology

2.I
fyoua res
tudyingrul
esofs
ynt
ax,a
reyous
tudyi
ngl
ingui
st
icc
ompe
tenc
eor
l
ingui
st
icper
formanc
e ?

Ans
wer
:

Alll
a nguagesha ver ul
est hatspecifyhowc ons t
ructi
onsa r
eformed,a ndprinc i
ple
sthat
governhowt he seconstruc t
ionsareactual
lyus ed.Rulesareti
edtoc ompe tence:t
he
abst
ractunderlyingknowl edgeofal a
nguaget hatanyspe a
kerwillpos s
ess.Pr i
nci
ples
aret
iedtope rforma nce:howweus ethes t
ructurestha
tr ul
escreat
e.Thus ,i
fyoua r
e
st
udyingrulesofs ynta
x,youa r
estudyinglinguist
iccompe t
ence:ourknowl e dgeof
howweputwor dstogethertof ormphr as
esa ndc l
auses,notourknowl edgeofhowwe
usethesestr
uc turesoncet hey’vebe enforme d.

3.Whatist
hedi
ff
ere
ncebe
twe
enpr
esc
ript
ivi
sta
ndde
scr
ipt
ivi
sta
ppr
oac
hest
ola
nguge
s
tudy?

Ans wer:
Inge ner
al,l
ingui
stspref
erdesc
ript
iveratherthanprescr
ipti
vea ppr
oachest
ol a
nguage
study.Ade s
c r
ipt
ivis
tsimpl
yd escr
ibesl
a nguagestruct
ure,la
yingoutthefact
sabout
languageXorl anguageYinobj ec
tiveands c
ienti
ficte
rms .Apr es
cri
pti
vis
t,onthe
otherhand,ismoreinter
est
edintelli
ngpe opl
epe oplehowt ous el
anguage
,oftent
imes
inve r
ysubjecti
veande moti
onallangua
ge.

4.I
fyoucl
aimthatsent
enceHedon’tknownothi
n’is“i
ncor
rec
t,”ar
eyouma
kinga
j
udgme
ntaboutthegrammat
ica
lit
yoft hes
ente
nceorit
sacce
ptabi
li
ty?

Answe r
:
As ent
enceisgramma t
icali
fiti
srul
e-gover
ned.AlthoughHedon’tknownot hi
n’is
nonsta
ndard,i
tisrule
-gover
nedandthusgrammatical.Thi
ssent
encei
llust
rat
esa
dif
feri
ngruleforsubj
ect-
verbagr
eementthanisfoundi nSt
andar
dEngl i
sh:don’
t,
 whichisusedinSt a
nda r
dEng l
ishforpluralsubject
s,isusedbys omespeakerswi t
h
si
ngularsubj
ectssucha she.Thes ente
nc ea l
socontainsadoublene ga
ti
ve,asys t
ema t
ic
andrule-
governedproces swh er
ebythene gati
veisc opiedontheindefi
nit
epronoun
(
a nyt
hingbecome snothing).Butwhilethiss e
ntenceisgr a
mma ti
c a
l,f
orma nype opl
eit
i
suna cce
ptabl
ebe causeofitsa s
sociat
ionwi thnoun-standardEngli
sh.Accept
a bi
lit
y
i
nvolvespeople’spers
ona ljudgmentsofl inguis
ticformsa ndcanbehighlysubjecti
ve.

5.Ameri
canSignLangua
ge(
ASL)i
sgest
ure
d,nots
poke
n,yeti
tisst
il
lcons
ide
reda
l
angua
ge.Expla
inhowASLisal
angua
geinthes
amesens
ethatEngl
is
horSpani
shi
s?

Answe r
:
Englis
horSpa nishareconsideredlanguage sbecausewec anisolat
erulesforf
orming,
forins
tance ,gr
amma t
ic
a ls
e nt
encesi nSpa nis
h.Inotherwords,a l
llanguagehavea
gramma r.Eve nthoughAme ri
canSi gnLa nguage( ASL)isnots pokenbutgest
ured,
ther
ea r
er ulesforhowt hege s
turesa r
es t
ructur
es.Asar esul
t,be ca
useASLha sa
gramma r,itwouldbec onsideredala nguage.IfASLwe r
es i
mpl yge st
uresmodeledon
Englis
h,itwoul dnotha vethes t
atusofal anguage.

6.Whileala
nguagesuc
hasGe r
manha sasystemof“grammati
cal
”ge nder
,Engl
is
hha s
“na
tura
lgende
r.”What’
sthedi
ffe
rencebe
twe e
nthetwosys
tems,and,inpar
ti
cul
ar,
whyisitt
hecaset
hatModernEngli
shemploysasys
temof“nat
ural”gender
?

Ans we r
:
Inas ystemofgr amma ti
c algender,genderissome wha tar
bitr
arilya ss
igned.For
inst
anc e,i
nGe rma n,da sMa dche
n( “girl
”)i
sa ssignedne utergende r,eventhoughagirl
isbiological
lyfemi ni
me .I nas ys
temofna t
uralge nder,thereisamor edirect
associati
onbe t
wee nbi ologicalgenderandt hea ssignme ntofge nde r
.Thisiswhyi n
Mo dernEngl is
h,thepr onounshea nds healwa ysre f
ert oma lesa ndfema l
es,
res
p ecti
vely.Therea rec asesofuse sofgeneriche ,asinAne mpl oyeemus tma kesur
e
hea rr
ivesont i
mef orwor k,inwhi chsher e
ferstobot hma le
sa ndf ema l
es.Butthi
s
usagei sdyingouti nEngl ish,anda ct
uall
ys oundsabi tarchai
ct os ome.

7.TheLi nguisticSoc ietyofAme ricaisapr ofessi

ona lor gani
zationofl inguiststhat
pe r
iodic
allypubl ishess tat
eme ntsdeali
ngwi thlinguis ti
csandl anguagepol icy.Oneof
itsstat
eme nts,“Langua geRi ghts”(www. Isadc.
org/inf o/I
sa-
res -
right
s.cfm,a ccessed
June22,2008) ,de scribe st
hel inguist
icrightstha tspe aker
sofl anguagesothe rthan
Engl i
shshoul dha vei nt heUni tedStates
.Thes tatme ntnotest hat“Theva s
tma j
orit
yof
thewor l
d’sna t
ionsa rea tleastbili
ngual,a ndmos taremul ti
lingua l
,eveni fonei gnore
s
theimpa ctofmode r
nmi grati
ons”a ndt ha t“Mul ti
li
ngua li
smbyi t
sel
fisr ar
e l
ya n
impor t
antc auseofc ivildi s
c or
d.”Thes t
a t
e menta ls
ol istspecifi
cr i
ghtsthat
mul ti
li
ngua lspeake rsshoul dbea c c
orded,s ucha sbe ing“ al
lowe dtoe xpress
thems el
ves,publ ic l
yorpr ivat
ely,inthel anguageoft he i
rchoi c
e”a nd“ t
oma intai
n
theirnat
ivel angua gea nd,s houldtheys ode s
ire
,topa ssitont otheirchildre
n. ”Dot he
quot
espr
ovi
dee
xampl
esofwha
tDe
bor
ahCa
mer
onde
scr
ibe
sasve
rba
lhygi
ene
?

Ans wer:
Thet woiniti
alquotesarest
a t
eme ntoffact
s :iti
struet hatmos tnationscontain
bili
ngual(evenmul t
il
ingual)populati
ons,andt hatmul ti
lingual
isma l
onedoe snot
necessar
ilylea
dt o“civi
ldiscord.
”Howe ver,thestatementbe come smuc hmor e
prescr
ipt
ivewhe nitstat
esthatmul t
ili
nguals peakersshoul dbea l
lowe dtos pe a
k
wha t
everlanguagetheywa ntto“publ i
clyorpr i
vately”a nd“ t
oma i
nt a
intheirnati
ve
languageandpa ssitontothe i
rchildren.
”The s
es tat
eme ntsill
ust
ra tever
ba lhygiene
becausetheyrevealac e
rtai
na t
tit
udet owardsl a
ngua ge,spe ci
fi
callythatalllanguage
s
shouldbeva l
ueda ndtheirspeakergivencer t
ainrights
.