ENG 230 Final, Fall 2005

1 Engl 230 January 25, 2006 Fall 2005 Prof. Lina Choueiri Final Exam Part I Provide a definition for THREE of the following terms. Your definition should also include a statement linking the term in question to a broader issue within Sociolinguistics. Provide examples where appropriate. (24 pts) 1. Age-grading 2. Gender-exclusive linguistic feature 3. Speech Accomodation 4. Indirect Directive 5. Politeness Part II ur answers) (20 pts) 1. Gender-differentiated speech forms are distinguished in terms of quantities or frequencies of use of the same forms by men and women. 2. Patterns of language change should not be confused with speech patterns which vary with different age groups. Only the latter, which vary with different age groups, are stable and repeat themselves over time. 3. The factors that contribute to determining the degree of social distance between two interlocutors in a conversation may be also relevant to det relative social status. 4. Baby-talk is an example of how characteristics of the addressee affect language use. 5. of speech divergence. 6. Capturing a vernacular the most relaxed speech style- on tape involves the being observed. 7. One of the characteristics of sports announcer talk is telegraphic grammar. 8. I need them for the meet are examples of utterances which serve primarily a referential function. 9. While positive politeness is solidarity oriented, negative politeness is status oriented. 10. Indirect speech directives generally express negative politeness. Part III In a long paragraph, answer TWO of the following three questions below. (56pts) 1. (1990, pp. 212-213) illustrate What explanation can you give 2 (linguistic) behavior and that of Earl? Zoe is talking to a recently divorced man named Earl whom her sister has fixed her up with. favorite joke is probably- - news and some bad news- Zoe frowned. arl. He looked away and then back again. 2. Provide and discuss two examples that show how politeness norms in a given society can be affected by solidarity as the dominant social dimension in relationships. 3. Consider th New York City speech, shows the results for the distribution of post-vocalic [r] (i.e. the presence vs. absence of pronunciation of [r] in words like fourth and floor) over five speech styles, for four social groups. After briefly describing the diagram (list the socioeconomic status groups in order of increasing frequency of pronunciation of post-vocalic [r] in casual speech, carefuly speech, reading style, word lists, minimal pairs; specify which group alters its pronunciation the most in moving from one situation to another, which the least; in which situation of use is the speech of the four groups most similar with respect to [r] pronunciation; etc.), discuss what points about the relationship between language use, social group membership, and style it illustrates.