Directions: Fill in the blank in each of the following statements with one word, the first letter of which is already given as a clue. Note that you are to fill in ONE word only, and you are not allowed to change the letter given.

Semantic s is a process of semantic change in which a word loses its former meaning and acquires a new, sometimes related meaning. For example, the word “silly” used to mean happy or naïve, but now means foolish.

Directions: Fill in the blank in each of the following statements with one word, the first letter of which is already given as a clue. Note that you are to fill in ONE word only, and you are not allowed to change the letter given.

In the historical development of language, sound change is inevitable, such as sound loss, sound a and sound movement.

Directions: Fill in the blank in each of the following statements with one word, the first letter of which is already given as a clue. Note that you are to fill in ONE word only, and you are not allowed to change the letter given.

Back formation refers to a process by which new words are coined from already existing words by taking away an a thought to be part of the old word，for example，edit derived from editor on the mistaken assumption that “-or” was the agentive suffix.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put T for true or F for false in the bracket in front of each statement. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.

Modern English has an elaborate system of case marking through overt morphological changes, thus its word order is more variable than that of Old English.

Judge whether the following statement is true or false. Put a T for true or F for false on the ANSWER SHEET for the statement. If you think the statement is false, you must explain why you think so and then give the correct version.

The most dramatic morphological loss concerns the loss of gender markings only.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put T for true or F for false in the bracket in front of each statement. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.

For some speakers of American English, the word ask is pronounced [æks], but the word asking is pronounced [æskɪŋ]. It is interesting that in Old English the verb ask was aksian, with the/k/preceding the/s/. This means that a historical metathesis rule switched these two consonants, producing ask in most dialects of English. Metathesis is the phonological process that reorders segments, often by transposing two adjoining sound segments.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.

The word knight once meant “youth”, but was elevated in meaning in time for the age of chivalry. This is an example of semantic shift.

​Directions: Explain the following terms and give examples for illustration where appropriate.

historical linguistics

Directions: Fill in the blank in each of the following; statements with one word, the first letter of which is already given as a clue. Note that you are to fill in ONE word only, and you are not allowed to change the letter given. 

Language change is largely a process of balancing between the simplification and the e of rules, between the need to reduce memory burdens and the need to maintain commnunicative clarity.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put T for true or F for false in the bracket in front of each statement. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.

Modern English has an elaborate system of case marking through overt morphological changes, thus its word order is more variable than that of Old English.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put T for true or F for false in the bracket in front of each statement. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.

The invention of steam-powered boats gave the verb sail an opportunity to extend its meaning to boats without sails. This example indicates that the meaning or semantic representation of words may become broader.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put a T for true or F for false on the ANSWER SHEET. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and then give the correct version. 

Semantic narrowing refers to the process in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or inclusive than its historically earlier meaning.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put T for true or F for false in the bracket in front of each statement. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.

In Old English the main negation element was "ne". Like Modern English "not", the "ne" usually occurred after the auxiliary verb. 

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put a T for true or F for false in the brackets in front of each statement. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so. 

The most vigorous and on-going change in the historical development of a language is the change in its vocabulary.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.

The Great Vowel Shift did not lead to the discrepancies between the pronunciation and the spelling system of Modern English.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put T for true or F for false in the bracket in front of each statement. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.

Borrowing occurs when one language takes a word or morpheme from another language and adds it to its lexicon. 

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put T for true or F for false in the bracket in front of each statement. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.

The word knight once meant "youth", but was elevated in meaning in time for the age of chivalry. This is an example of semantic broadening.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put T for true or F for false in the bracket in front of each statement. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.
Language change is essentially a matter of change in the grammar.

Directions: Judge whether each of the following statements is true or false. Put T for true or F for false in the bracket in front of each statement. If you think a statement is false, you must explain why you think so and give the correct version.

Derivation covers various processes of word formation by the addition of affixes, such as the creation of adjectives from nouns (professional < profession), nouns from verbs (computer < compute), adjectives from verbs (conceivable < conceive), and verbs from nouns (eulogize < eulogy).

Cultural t means that language can be passed on from one generation to the next through teaching and learning, rather than by instinct.