Extra Credit Quiz – Sociology of Language

Based on chapter 9 in Wardhaugh’s book. Answer any or all of the questions. Only your final submission will be graded. Submit by 11:59pm on Friday, December 20th.

Your Email Address(Required)

In your own words, what is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

Do languages always have a 1:1 translation between kinship terms (e.g. Spanish padre = English father)? If so, why? If not, give an example.

What is folk taxonomy? What is one of the examples discussed in the text?

Imagine a language has only four color words. Which of the following meanings are they likeliest to have?

black, white, red, brown

red, black, yellow, white

yellow, red, green, black

black, white, gray, green

What is taboo, and what is its significance to language, as described by Wardhaugh?