Why do we describe a group of related languages as a "family"?

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: Any isolated group of people develops a language of its own. This language describes everything that those people see or experience together. If groups of these people break away and disperse, then each group discovers new objects and ideas, and the people have to make up new words for them. After hundreds of years, the descendants of each of these breakaway groups have their own language. Each descendant language has a vocabulary of its own, but each also retains a common core of words from that earliest shared language. When languages separate, they still have a genetic relationship, meaning they share a common ancestor language. The ancestor that is common to any group of several of today's languages is called a root language, or protolanguage. The languages that are related by descent from a common protolanguage comprise a language family.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

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The highest temperatures are typically found in the:

A) troposphere. B) thermosphere. C) mesosphere. D) stratosphere.

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Which of the following enzymes accelerates transcription?

A) phosphorylated protein kinases B) ribozymes C) tRNA synthetases D) all of these

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Average room temperature is about

A. 300 K. B. 100 K. C. 200 K. D. 400 K.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Eastern boundary currents: a. carry cold water toward the equator

b. are located east of the continents. c. are relatively deep, narrow and fast. d. are difficult for sailors to navigate.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences