UGC-NET (NTA) LINGUISTICS, JANUARY-2025

Historical linguistics studies linear relationships, focusing on diachronic language change over time, tracing developments in a single lineage. Comparative linguistics, however, examines collateral relationships, meaning it compares multiple related languages to reconstruct their common ancestor.
Example: Comparative linguistics studies IndoEuropean languages like Latin, Sanskrit, and Greek to reconstruct Proto-Indo-European. Collateral relationships exist between sister languages, which descended from a common proto-language but evolved separately.

The syntactic feature "iti" was first proposed by F.B.J. Kuiper, a scholar known for his research in Indo-Aryan linguistics.
"Iti" in Sanskrit is used as a quotative marker, introducing reported speech or quotations. Example: Ramah āha - "Gacchāmi" iti ("Rama said - 'I am going'").

Early stages of speech and language development include:
A. (Cooing and babbling) → First sounds made by infants, developing into structured speech sounds.
B. (Naming) → Children begin to label objects and people with words.
E. (Holophrastic production) → The one-word stage, where children use single words to express full sentences (e.g., milk meaning "I want milk").
(C) and (D) are incorrect because repetition and imitation occur later, and comprehension precedes verbal naming but is not an early stage in production.

Inflection is characterized by obligatoriness, productivity, and generality, meaning it applies systematically across a language.
• Obligatoriness → Inflectional morphemes are required by grammar (e.g., plural "-s" in English).
• Productivity → Inflectional processes apply to most words in a given category (e.g., regular past tense "-ed").
• Generality → Inflection occurs across all instances within a given rule.
Derivation (1) and word formation (2) are different because they create new words, whereas inflection modifies existing words.

Nonce-formations refer to words created for single occasions, often spontaneously and without expectation of long-term usage. Example: A child calling an umbrella a "rainstopper".
• Word-blends (1) involve merging two words (e.g., "brunch" from “breakfast" + "lunch").
• Archaic forms (2) refer to outdated words (e.g., "hou").
• Dialectal variants (4) refer to regional variations of a language.

A. (Markers) - III: Those variables which show stratification according to style and social class → Markers are linguistic features that vary based on social class and speech style, such as the use of /r/ in New York English.
B. (Indicators) - I: Variables which show differentiation by age or social group without being subject to style shifting → Indicators remain stable across speech styles but differentiate speakers by age or social background.
C. (Stereotypes) - IV: Forms that are socially marked and are prominent in the linguistic awareness of speech communities → Stereotypes are socially recognized linguistic features that often carry stigma or prestige, such as the "Boston r-dropping".
D. (Restricted Code) - II: Kind of speech which is relatively less explicit and makes greater assumption about knowledge shared by the hearer→ Restricted codes (Bernstein, 1971) rely on shared background knowledge, common in close-knit social groups.

A. (It is a property of single lexemes) → Correct, polysemy refers to a single word with multiple related meanings.
B. (The meanings of a polysemous word are related) → Correct, the multiple meanings of a polysemous word are semantically connected (e.g., head → "part of the body" and "leader of a group").
Incorrect options:
C. (Polysemous words are regarded as different lexemes) → Incorrect, as they are treated as variations of one lexeme.
D. (It involves figurative meaning) → Not necessarily, as polysemy includes literal meaning shifts (e.g., mouth of a river vs. mouth on a face).
E. (It is a type of homonymy) → Incorrect, homonymy involves different words that happen to have the same form (e.g., bank = "financial institution" vs. bank = ."riverbank").

Negative politeness strategies are used to avoid imposing on others, often through indirectness, formality, and deference.
Correct aspects of negative politeness:
A. (Reference) → Yes, indirect reference reduces imposition.
B. (Indirectness) → Yes, making requests less direct is a key strategy (e.g., "Could you possibly pass the salt?").
C. (Formality in language use) → Yes, negative politeness often relies on formal structures.
E. (Asymmetric T/V use) → Yes, using formal pronouns (vous in French) instead of informal tu indicates deference.
Incorrect option:
D. (Symmetric proximal use) → No, negative politeness creates dist

A. (p, b, m) - III: Bilabial → Produced with both lips (e.g., /p/, /b/, /m/ are bilabial sounds).
B. (p, b, t) - IV: Stop → Stops involve complete closure of the airflow, as in /p/, /b/, and /t/.
C. (i, e, y) - I: Sonority → Vowels are the most sonorous sounds, with /i/, /e/, and /y/ being highly resonant.
D. (q, s, f) - II: Fricative → Produced with a narrow constriction causing turbulent airflow (e.g., /s/ and /f/ are fricatives).