Mechanisms of Linguistic Change Reading Answers

Jan 3, 2023

Mechanisms of Linguistic Change Reading Answers contains a write up about linguistic changes by mechanism. Mechanisms of Linguistic Change Reading Answers is an IELTS topic which contains a total of 6 paragraphs. Related to the paragraphs are 13 questions. To answer the questions provided in the IELTS Reading passage,Applicants must attentively read each passage.

Candidates in this section will be shown various question types with clear instructions. Mechanisms of Linguistic Change Reading Answers comprises three types of questions: Complete the Summary, True/False and Not Given and matching.Candidates for the summary must comprehend the idea and scan the passage for important terms. The true/false and other questions are based on the assertions from the paragraphs. Answers to the sentence completion questions must contain more than two words. Candidates must completely interpret and comprehend each paragraph. To gain proficiency, candidates can practice from IELTS reading practice test.

Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Mechanisms of Linguistic Change Reading Answers

The changes that have caused the most disagreement are those in pronunciation. We have various sources of evidence for the pronunciations of earlier times, such as the spellings, the treatment of words borrowed from other languages or borrowed by them, the descriptions of contemporary grammarians and spelling-reformers, and the modern pronunciations in all the languages and dialects concerned From the middle of the sixteenth century, there are in England writers who attempt to describe the position of the speech-organs for the production of English phonemes, and who invent what are in effect systems of phonetic symbols. These various kinds of evidence, combined with a knowledge of the mechanisms of speech-production, can often give us a very good idea of the pronunciation of an earlier age, though absolute certainty is never possible.
When we study the pronunciation of a language over any period of a few generations or more, we find there are always large-scale regularities in the changes: for example, over a certain period of time, just about all the long [a:] vowels in a language may change into long [e:] vowels, or all the [b] consonants in a certain position (for example at the end of a word) may change into [p] consonants. Such regular changes are often called sound laws. There are no universal sound laws (even though sound laws often reflect universal tendencies), but simply particular sound laws for one given language (or dialect) at one given period.
It is also possible that fashion plays a part in the process of change. It certainly plays a part in the spread of change: one person imitates another, and people with the most prestige are most likely to be imitated, so that a change that takes place in one social group may be imitated (more or less accurately) by speakers in another group. When a social group goes up or down in the world, its pronunciation of Russian, which had formerly been considered desirable, became, on the contrary, an undesirable kind of accent to have, so that people tried to disguise it. Some of the changes in accepted English pronunciation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have been shown to consist in the replacement of one style of pronunciation by another style already existing, and it is likely that such substitutions were a result of the great social changes of the period: the increased power and wealth of the middle classes, and their steady infiltration upwards into the ranks of the landed gentry, probably carried elements of middle-class pronunciation into upper-class speech.
A less specific variant of the argument is that the imitation of children is imperfect: they copy their parents’ speech, but never reproduce it exactly. This is true, but it is also true that such deviations from adult speech are usually corrected in later childhood. Perhaps it is more significant that even adults show a certain amount of random variation in their pronunciation of a given phoneme, even if the phonetic context is kept unchanged. This, however, cannot explain changes in pronunciation unless it can be shown that there is some systematic trend in the failures of imitation: if they are merely random deviations they will cancel one another out and there will be no net change in the language.
One such force which is often invoked is the principle of ease, or minimization of effort. The change from fussy to fuzzy would be an example of assimilation, which is a very common kind of change. Assimilation is the changing of a sound under the influence of a neighboring one. For example, the word scant was once skamt, but the /m/ has been changed to /n/ under the influence of the following /t/. Greater efficiency has hereby been achieved, because /n/ and /t/ t/are articulated in the same place (with the tip of the tongue against the teeth-ridge), whereas /m/ is articulated elsewhere (with the two lips). So the place of articulation of the nasal consonant has been changed to conform with that of the following plosive. A more recent example of the same kind of thing is the common pronunciation of football as football.
Assimilation is not the only way in which we change our pronunciation in order to increase efficiency. It is very common for consonants to be lost at the end of a word: in Middle English, word-final [-n] was often lost in unstressed syllables, so that baken ‘to bake’ changed from [‘ba:kan] to [‘ba:k3], and later to [ba:k]. Consonant-clusters are often simplified. At one time there was a [t] in words like castle and Christmas, and an initial [k] in words like knight and know. Sometimes a whole syllable is dropped out when two successive syllables begin with the same consonant (haplology): a recent example is temporary, which in Britain is often pronounced as if it were temporary.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 27-30

Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.

The pronunciation of living languages undergoes changes throughout thousands of years. Large scale regular Changes are usually called 27............... . There are three reasons for these changes. Firstly, the influence of one language on another; when one person imitates another pronunciation(the most prestige), the imitation always partly involves a factor of 28 ............... . Secondly, the imitation of children from adults language sometimes are 29 ..............., and may also contribute to this change if there are insignificant deviations though later they may be corrected Finally, for those random variations in pronunciation, the deeper evidence lies in the 30 ............... or minimization of effort.

Question 27)

Answer: Sound Laws
Supporting Statement: Almost all of a language's long [a:] vowels could turn into long [e:] vowels over time, or all [b] consonants in a certain location, as at the end of a syllable, could turn into [p] consonants. Sound laws are often used to describe such predictable shifts.
Keywords : sound laws, consonants.
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanation: In paragraph B, it has been clearly mentioned that pronunciation undergoes changes. Over time, different syllables come into existence and the pronunciation changes for certain words. Such predictable shifts are called Sound Laws. So, the correct answer is Sound Laws.

Question 28)

Answer: Fashion
Supporting Statement: It's also possible that fashion contributes to the evolution of society. A shift that occurs in one social group may be imitated (more or less accurately) by speakers in another group as a result of the fact that people imitate one another and that persons with the highest prestige are most likely to be imitated.
Keywords : Fashion, speakers.
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: This is clear from paragraph C, that imitation can take place because of fashion in the society. New and different ways of pronunciation come and people try to imitate each other. This fashion results in linguistic changes. So, the correct answer is fashion.

Question 29)

Answer: Imperfect
Supporting Statement:A less specific variant of the argument is that the imitation of children is imperfect: they copy their parents’ speech, but never reproduce it exactly. This is true, but it is also true that such deviations from adult speech are usually corrected in later childhood.
Keywords : Imperfect, parents speech
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanation: The lines of paragraph D states that sometimes children try to imitate the pronunciation of their parents. Theme pronunciation are generally imperfect which leads to deviation in linguistic languages. So, the correct answer is Imprect.

Question 30)

Answer: Principle of Ease
Supporting Statement: The principle of ease, or the reduction of effort, is one of these forces that is frequently invoked. Assimilation is a relatively typical type of change, and an example of it would be the transformation from fussy to fuzzy.
Keywords : Principle of ease, change.
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: In paragraph E, it is clearly stated the deviation in linguistics. This is due to the principle of ease or reduction in effort. People try to be comfortable with the words they speak which often lead to variation in pronunciation. So, the correct answer is the principle of ease.

Questions 31-37

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 243?

In boxes 31-37 on your answer sheet, write:

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

It is impossible for modern people to find pronunciation of words in an earlier age

Answer: False
Supporting Statement: Although total assurance is never possible, these many types of evidence, when paired with understanding of the mechanisms of speech creation, can frequently give us a very clear sense of the pronunciation of an earlier age.
Keywords : earlier age, pronunciation
Keyword Location: Paragraph A
Explanation: The statement of the question is contradictory to the actual information. The paragraph A clearly states that it is possible for modern people to find pronunciation at an earlier age. However there is uncertainty but it is not entirely impossible. So, the correct answer is False.

The great change of language in Russian history is related to the rising status and fortune of middle classes.

Answer: False
Supporting Statement: A social group's pronunciation of Russian, which was once seen as attractive, changed when that group rose or fell in the world, becoming an undesirable type of accent that individuals tried to hide.
Keywords : undesirable type, Russian
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: The question statement is contradictory to paragraph C. Paragraph C states the Russian language was once attractive. But it changed due to political reasons. When Russian groups felt or rose in the world , people thought its accent to be undesirable. So, the correct answer is False.

All the children learn speeches from adults white They assume that certain language is difficult to imitate exactly.

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: There has been no relevant information provided in the paragraphs related to the question statement. So, the answer is not given.

Pronunciation with causal inaccuracy will not exert a big influence on language changes.

Answer: True
Supporting Statement: If they are only random variations, they will cancel one another out, resulting in no overall language change.
Keywords : Random variations
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanation: In paragraph D, it has been stated that if there are slight change in the pronunciation it will make no big difference. Pronunciation with casual inaccuracy will not change the linguistic bases. So the correct answer is True.

The word scant can be pronounced more easily than skamt

Answer: True
Supporting Statement: The word scant was originally skamt, but the subsequent /t/ caused the /m/ to shift to a /n/.
Keywords : Scant,skamt
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: The statement is true. In paragraph E, in one of the examples it has been stated that the pronunciation of scant is easy while said as skamt. So, the statement is true.

The [g] in gnat not being pronounced will not be spelt out in the future.

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: There has been no relevant information provided in the paragraphs related to the question statement. So, the answer is not given.

The sound of ‘temporary’ cannot wholly present its spelling.

Answer: True
Supporting Statement: a recent example is temporary, which in Britain is often pronounced as if it were temporary.
Keywords : Temporary, pronounced
Keyword Location: Paragraph F
Explanation: In paragraph F, the last line shows the example of Britain word. The word temporary is pronounced correctly but often heard differently. There might be various pronunciations which are heard differently. DSo, the statement is true.

Questions 38-40

Look at the following sentences and the list of statements below. Match each statement with the correct sentence, A-D.

Write the correct letter, A-D, in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.

Since the speakers can pronounce it with less effort
Assimilation of a sound under the influence of a neighboring one
It is a trend for changes in pronunciation in a large scale in a given period
Because the speaker can pronounce [n] and [t] both in the same time

As a consequence, ‘b’ will be pronounced as

Answer: C
Supporting Statement: or all the [b] consonants in a certain position (for example at the end of a word) may change into [p] consonants. Such regular changes are often called sound laws.
Keywords : consonants, b
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanation: In paragraph B, it is stated about the pronunciation of b. It has been mentioned that in some instances b will be pronounced as p. So, the correct answer is C. The explanation for the same has been provided.

The pronunciation of [mt] changed to [nt]

Answer: B
Supporting Statement: Assimilation is the changing of a sound under the influence of a neighboring one.
Keywords : Assimilation
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: In paragraph E, it has been mentioned the change of sound due to dominance of others. Assimilation refers to the sound change due to the neighboring sound. So, the correct answer is B.

The omit of ‘f in the sound of Christmas

Answer: A
Supporting Statement: At one time there was a [t] in words like castle and Christmas, and an initial [k] in words like knight and know.
Keywords :Christmas, words
Keyword Location: Paragraph F
Explanation: In paragraph F, the sound of christmas has been explained. The lines of paragraph F states that The words like castle and christmas are often pronounced without t. While there is the alphabet t it's not pronounced. So, the correct answer is A.

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