UGC-NET (NTA) LINGUISTICS, JUNE-2025

Total Questions: 100

21. A sound change, which is defined as one which does affect the inventory of phonemes (the basic sounds that native speakers hold to be distinct) by adding to or deleting from the number of phonemes/basic sounds of the language, is called______.

Correct Answer: 2. Phonemic change
Solution:

A phonemic change is a historical sound change that alters the phoneme inventory of a language by either adding new phonemes or eliminating existing ones. This change affects which sounds are treated as distinct by native speakers. Examples include:
• The loss of the Old English phoneme /x/ (as in niht → night), which removed a phoneme from the system.
• The creation of new phonemes in French when nasal vowels developed (e.g., bon /bõ/).
Such changes reshape the structural sound system of a language, unlike allophonic changes that simply adjust variants.

22. The lexical item (a word) which has been 'borrowed' from another language, a word which originally was not part of the vocabulary of the recipient language but was adopted from some other language and made part of the borrowing language's vocabulary is called______.

Correct Answer: 1. Loanword
Solution:

A loanword is a word borrowed directly from another language and incorporated into the lexicon of the recipient language, often with slight phonological or morphological adjustments. Examples include:
• English ballet from French
• Hindi कमीज (kameez) from Arabic/Persian
• Japanese pan (bread) from Portuguese pão Loanwords enrich the vocabulary by adding new lexical items not originally present in the borrowing language.

23. That is an attempt to correct things which are in fact already correct and which already match the form in the variety being copied, resulting in overcorrection and getting the form wrong. This linguistic phenomenon in historical linguistics is known as______.

Correct Answer: 4. Hypercorrection
Solution:

Hypercorrection occurs when speakers attempt to imitate a prestige variety or "correct" their language but overapply the rule, producing a form that is actually incorrect. This happens when they mistakenly believe something in their speech is wrong and try to "fix" it. Examples:
• Saying "between you and I" (incorrect) instead of "between you and me" (correct) because "I" is incorrectly assumed to be more formal.
• Pronouncing often with a pronounced /t/ because they assume silent /t/ must be incorrect. Hypercorrection reflects social pressure and attempts to emulate a higher-status variety.

24. The languages, which are related to one another by virtue of having descended from the same common ancestor, are defined as______.

Correct Answer: 3. Sister languages
Solution:

Sister languages are languages descended from the same common ancestor and therefore belong to the same family. They evolve independently after splitting from the proto-language. For example:
• Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi (all sister languages descended from Sanskrit/Old IndoAryan)
• Spanish, Italian, and French (descended from Latin) They share systematic similarities in vocabulary, grammar, and phonology because of their shared lineage.

25. Consider the vocabulary differences: sole parents (for Australians), single parents (for British people), solo parents (New Zealanders). This is an instance of_______.

Correct Answer: 3. Regional variation
Solution:

The vocabulary differences sole parents (Australia), single parents (UK), and solo parents (New Zcaland) reflect regional variation-different dialects of English choose different lexical items for the same concept. The semantic meaning remains constant, but the form used varies geographically. This type of variation is common in world Englishes, where regionspecific usage reflects cultural and linguistic identity.

26. When people talk to each other, their speech often becomes more similar. In other words, each person's speech converges towards the speech of the person they are talking to. This process is called_______.

Correct Answer: 4. Speech accommodation
Solution:

When speakers adjust their speech to become more like the person they are talking to, the process is known as speech accommodation. This is central to Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), which states that speakers may converge (become more similar) or diverge (become more different) depending on social goals. Convergence can include matching pronunciation, vocabulary, speaking rate, or intonation to reduce social distance and increase mutual understanding.

27. The seminal article titled Who speaks what language to whom and when? is written by______.

Correct Answer: 2. Joshua Fishman
Solution:

The influential article "Who Speaks What Language to Whom and When?" was written by sociolinguist Joshua Fishman in 1965. This work established the foundational framework for understanding domains of language use, showing how language choice depends on setting, participants, and topic. It remains one of the most frequently cited works in sociolinguistics and bilingualism studies.

28. The term 'language planning' was introduced by_______.

Correct Answer: 1. Einar Haugen
Solution:

The term language planning was first introduced by linguist Einar Haugen in 1959. Haugen explained how societies deliberately develop, reform, or regulate languages through processes such as standardization, modernization, and corpus planning. His model-selection, codification, elaboration, and acceptance-became the classic framework used by many multilingual nations.

29. In 2024, which among the following languages were added to the list of Classical languages of India?

Correct Answer: 1. Pali, Prakrit, Bangla and Assamese
Solution:

In October 2024, the Government of India officially granted Classical-language status to five languages-Marathi, Pali, Prakrit, Assamese, and Bangla (Bengali). This announcement was made through a Union Cabinet decision confirming that these languages meet the criteria such as antiquity of early texts, rich ancient literature, and historical linguistic tradition. Among the options given, the set that matches the newly added Classical languages (excluding Marathi, which is not listed in the options) is Pali, Prakrit, Bangla and Assamese, which correctly reflects four of the five languages recognized in 2024. Therefore, all options given in the question are incorrect, and the correct response is NONE.

30. Bangani, a language spoken in the Himalayas, is a dialect of_______.

Correct Answer: 2. Garhwali
Solution:

Bangani is a language spoken in the Bangan region of Uttarakhand, located in the western Himalayas. Linguistic research classifies Bangani as a dialect of Garhwali, which belongs to the Central Pahari group of Indo-Aryan languages. Although earlier debates suggested it might be distinct, mainstream linguistics identifies Bangani as part of the Garhwali cluster.