Data analysis

Exercise 1. Beginner-Intermediate. Are the following English words simplex or complex? If they are complex, segment them into morphemes using hyphens.

Exercise 2. Intermediate. Consider the following nursery rhyme.

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And doesn’t know where to find them;
Leave them alone, and they’ll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them.

Brainstorm a list of things that someone would need to know about English in order to understand this nursery rhyme. Which of the things you listed pertain to morphology or syntax?

Communication and study skills

Exercise 3. Beginner. What background skills, experience, and knowledge do you bring to this course that might help you succeed? For example, do you have experience with multiple languages or dialects? Do you have experience with pattern recognition and problem solving? Are you skilled at creative language play? Do you have good time management and organizational skills?

Exercise 4. Intermediate. What is a traditional value from your culture? How will you apply this value during this course? For example, you could apply the Inuit value of working together for a common cause by establishing a study group or the Métis value of courage by participating in class in ways that stretch your comfort zone.

Research and application

Exercise 5. Beginner. Look at map 85A on the online language database WALS and answer the following questions.

a. Based on the sample in this map, what percentage of the languages of the world use prepositions?

b. Based on the sample in this map, what percentage of the languages of the world use postpositions?

c. Are languages that use prepositions and languages that use postpositions spread randomly throughout the world, or do they seemed to be grouped according to some sort of pattern?

d. Scroll down to the list of languages and click on the name of a language from the list that you’ve never heard of before.

• • What is the language called?
  • Does this language use prepositions, postpositions, or something else?
  • What language family does it belong to?
    (Hint: Look at the top of the page, just below the menu.)
  • Where is it spoken?
    (Hint: Look underneath the map on the right side of the page.)

e. Write up your answer to all of the above questions in paragraph format, using in-text citations as appropriate.
(Hint: Cite the information you got from this specific map as Dryer (2013) and the information coming from the WALS database as a whole as Dryer and Haspelmath (2013). This is according to the instructions for citing WALS on the WALS homepage.)

Language Journal

For your language journal, you should pick a language that you don’t know much about (maybe even one you’ve never heard of before). At the end of each chapter, there will be a few questions for you to research about your language. By the end of the semester, you will have created a profile of the morphosyntax of your language!

Exercise 6. Research the basic background facts of your language. Where is it spoken? Approximately how many speakers are there? What language family does it belong to?

Exercise 7. Does your language use prepositions or postpositions? Include an example that supports your answer.