1. King Khalid University 1st Semester 1432-1433 H
Faculty of Science & Arts, Bisha History of English Language: Mid-Term: 1
Department of English Marks: 10 (50 pts/5=10)
Answer Key
1- Put (T) for the true statements and (F) for the false statements: (5 pts)
1. Synchronic Analysis views linguistic phenomena only at one point in time, usually
the present
T
2. English today is probably the first largest language by number of native speakers. F
3. Non-native speakers of English outnumber native speakers. T
4. A century ago, the term Aryan was commonly employed for the indo-European T
languages.
5. The term Indo-European is more used because it suggests more clearly the T
geographical extent of the family.
2- Use the words in the list to fill in the gabs in the following statements: (15 pts)
1. In linguistics, a diachronic analysis regards a phenomenon in terms of development
through time.
2. A variety that preserves features that have long since vanished elsewhere is called an
archaic variety
3. The country with the highest populations of native English speakers is United States
4. Membership of languages in the same language family is established by observable
shared characteristics
5. A variety that has changed more than other varieties is called an innovative variety
6. A language from which other languages descend is called parent language
7. The original language in a language family is called proto-language
8. Membership in a branch or group within a language family is established by shared
innovations
9. A variety that has changed relatively less than other varieties is called a conservative
variety
10. Modern historical linguistics is both qualitative and quantitative.

2. 3- Write short notes: (20 pts)
1. Define: "Historical linguistics".
Historical linguistics (also called diachronic linguistics) is the study of
language change
2. Define: "lingua franca".
A lingua franca (or working language, bridge language, vehicular
language) is a language systematically used to make communication
possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular
when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.
3. Define: " "language family"
A language family is a group of languages related because they are
descended from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that
family.
4. Historical linguistics has five main concerns, mention Three.
1. to describe and account for observed changes in particular
languages
2. to reconstruct the pre-history of languages and determine their
relatedness, grouping them into language families (comparative
linguistics)
3. to develop general theories about how and why language
changes
4. to describe the history of speech communities: a group of people
who share a set of norms and expectations regarding the use of
language
5. to study the history of words, i.e. etymology: their origins, and
how their form and meaning have changed over time.
6. The major language families, mention three
5. The groups of the indo-European languages mention three.
1) Indian 5) Albanian 9) Celtic
2) Iranian 6) Italic 10) Hittite
3) Armenian 7) Balto-Slavic 11) Tocharian
4) Hellenic 8) Germanic
6. The three language groups that descended from the Germanic Branch.
1. East Germanic
2. North Germanic
3. and West Germanic

3. 4- Complete the table with information from the list: (10 pts)
Area Traditional historical linguistics Modern historical linguistics
Focus of Effort
The focus of traditional historical linguistics lies in (2) Modern historical linguistics, however, focuses on (10)
Internal vs.
Traditional historical linguistics concentrates on (3) Modern historical linguistics puts its focal point on (1)
External Factors
Primary Subjects
of Interest
Traditional historical linguistics is mainly interested in ( ) 4 In modern historical linguistics, (8)
Methods
Traditional historical linguistics is based on (6) Modern historical linguistics is both (5)
Subject Matter
Traditional historical linguistics deals only with (11) Modern historical linguistics is also concerned with (7)
1. external factors.
2. keeping records of language change in past times of a language or language family.
3. language and its changes regarding internal factors.
4. phonology and morphology and not so much in syntax and semantics.
5. qualitative and quantitative.
6. qualitative assessments.
7. spoken language.
8. syntax, semantics, and pragmatics are also taken into account.
9. the language structure and the language system are very important.
10.the progress of language change,
11.written language.