Data analysis

Exercise 1. Prescriptive or descriptive?

Beginner [2.3]

Consider the following sentences. Some of them are prescriptively incorrect and some are descriptively ill-formed. Which are which?

Exercise 2. Using the scientific method for our and ours

Intermediate-advanced [2.1, 2.2]

In Section 2.1, we used the scientific method to identify the difference between we and us. In this exercise, we will use the scientific method to identify the difference between our and ours.

a. Come up with some sentences that use the words our and ours.

b. Make an observation about your sentences. Do you notice any patterns?

c. Turn your observation into a hypothesis.

d. Check to see if your hypothesis is falsifiable. What would be the necessary and sufficient evidence to support your hypothesis? What is the opposite hypothesis? What would be the necessary and sufficient evidence to support the opposite hypothesis?

e. Come up with some sentences that test your hypothesis. Make sure you use both positive and negative evidence.

f. Do you need to revise your hypothesis? Why or why not?

Exercise 3. Mental vs. written lexicon

Beginner [2.4]

Which of the following pieces of information would you expect to be encoded in the mental lexicon? Which would typically be encoded in a dictionary?

a. The plural of desk is desks.

b. The words guarantee and warranty have the same historical origin.

c. The idiom raining cats and dogs means that it’s raining very hard.

d. The abbreviation tl;dr means ‘too long; didn’t read’ and is written at the beginning of long internet posts followed by a summary of the post.

e. My two-year-old niece calls juice /d͡ʒud͡ʒu/.

f. The plural of child is children.

Communication and study skills

Exercise 4. Scientific terminology

Beginner [2.6]

The following paragraph misuses scientific terminology. Rewrite the paragraph using terminology correctly.

Hint: If you’re stuck, re-read the subsection on word choice in scientific writing from Section 2.6.

Exercise 5. Personal language reflection

Intermediate [2.3]

Write a paragraph describing your language background. Some questions you may answer in your response include:

a. What language(s) do you speak?

b. What language(s) did your ancestors speak?

c. Do the language varieties you speak have prestige in your society?

d. How is your identity connected to your language(s)?

e. How did you and your family come to speak the languages and language varieties you speak?

f. How do prescriptivist attitudes affect you, your family, and your community?

Exercise 6. Citation practice

Beginner [2.6]

The following definition is taken from the 4th edition of Syntax: A Generative Introduction by Andrew Carnie on page 27.

a. How would you write and cite a direct quote of this definition? Write it out using proper format for an in-text citation using parentheses.

b. How would you cite a paraphrase of this definition? Re-write the definition in your own words, using proper format for an in-text citation using parenthesis.

c. All of the information needed to write a bibliography entry for this textbook is listed below. Write a bibliography entry in the style of the Canadian Journal of Linguistics.

Exercise 7. Evaluating sources

Intermediate [1.3, 2.5, 2.7]

Consider the following sources. For each source, determine (i) if it is an academic source, (ii) the primary sub-field(s) of linguistics relevant to the source, and (iii) write a citation for the source using Canadian Journal of Linguistics citation style.

a. Domains in Michif phonology by Nicole Rosen

b. Blackfoot language by Glenbow Museum

c. Modeling the noun morphology of Plains Cree by Conor Snoek, Dorothy Thunder, Kaidi Lõo, Antti Arppe, Jordan Lachler, Sjur Moshagen, and Trond Trosterund

d. The Mohawk language by Marianne Mithun

e. English-Cayuga/Cayuga-English dictionary by Frances Froman, Alfred Keye, Lottie Keye, and Carrie Dyck

Research and application

Exercise 8. Dictionary vs. lexicon

Intermediate [2.4]

In this exercise, we will compare a dictionary with your mental lexicon.

a. Think of a word you know that you expect to not be in the dictionary. Why not? Then look it up in a dictionary and see if it’s there.

b. Find a word in a dictionary that is not in your mental lexicon. Why do you think is it not in your mental lexicon?

Language Journal

Exercise 9. Prescriptivism

Advanced [2.3]

Research the prescriptivist attitudes of your language. Here are some questions to guide you. Not all of them will be applicable to all languages.

a. What are some of the different language varieties of your language? Is one more prestigious than the others?

b. How was your language affected by colonialism? Has it been a colonial language? Is it in contact with a colonial language?

c. Is there a language academy that determines what is “proper” use of the language?

Exercise 10. Pronouns

Beginner [2.1]

What pronouns are used in your language? Does your language use different pronouns in subject and object position?