Mock Exam

HISTORYOFTHEENGLISHLANGUAGE1 JUNE2013
SURNAME(S):__________________________________________NAME:_________________________
1. Whereas wordstress was relatively free in Proto-IndoEuropean, Germanic languages
(including Old English) tended to fix stress on the vowel of the first syllable of each
word. This phonological change had important consequences on the evolution of the
nominal morphemes used in the later Germanic languages. Please write a short
paragraph (100 to 150 words) on the possible connections between both diachronic
processesin the history of English. Divide your essay into three parts: (i) introduction to
the topic; (ii) discussion of the problem; and (iii) conclusions.

Reconstructions of ProtoIndoEuropean phonology indicate that
word-stress was relatively free in this language. In fact, most
modern PrIde languages (such as Spanish, Italian and
Rumanian, but NOT French) have kept this feature. However,
modern Germanic languages (such as German and English) show
a strong tendency towards word-initial stress (as in English
dctionary, bsinesswoman or hliday). In fact, ProtoGermanic
mutated free word-stress into fixed, word-initial stress.
This new accentual pattern implies that whereas the vowel and
consonants in the first syllable are pronounced clearly and
strongly, the final phonemes in each word are affected by
processes of phonological erosion, which frequently derive into
progressive weakening and loss.
Since Old English morphemes occupy word-final position, they
were affected by phonological erosion, so that their vowels and
consonants became very weak (most vowels became //), making
these morphemes more and more similar to each other and,
consequently, simplifying its grammar. (147WORDS)
SELFEVALUATION(mark your answer to Q1 here) 1 2 3 4 5
Please evaluate your answer from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest)

X

EVALUATION(please do not write here) 1 2 3 4 5
Knowledge of the topic
X
Organization of concepts
X
Correct use of linguistic terminology
X
CCC (conciseness, concretion & coherence)
X
Use of written English
X
MARK QUESTION 1
25/25
Comentario [U1]: Introductory
paragraph,describingtheoverallsituation.
Comentario [U2]: Trytouseyour
previousknowledgeoflinguisticsandof
otherlanguagesthatyouknow.
Comentario [U3]: PresentDayEnglish
examplesareperfectlyokinmostcases.
Comentario [U4]: Yourdiscussionof
therelevanceofthisproblemgoeshere.
Comentario [U5]: Inthelast
paragraph,youconnectyourphonological
theorysketchedabove(UNIT2inthe
courseprogramme)tothemorphological
changesreferredtointhequestiontext
(UNIT3inthecourseprogramme).
Comentario [U6]: Yourproposed
solution,nicelyexplained.
Comentario [U7]: Perfectlength,good
English.
HISTORYOFTHEENGLISHLANGUAGE1 JUNE2012
SURNAME(S):__________________________________________NAME:_________________________
1. Whereas wordstress was relatively free in Proto-IndoEuropean, Germanic languages
(including Old English) tended to fix stress on the vowel of the first syllable of each
word. This phonological change had important consequences on the evolution of the
nominal morphemes used in the later Germanic languages. Please write a short
paragraph (100 to 150 words) on the possible connections between both diachronic
processesin the history of English. Divide your essay into three parts: (i) introduction to
the topic; (ii) discussion of the problem; and (iii) conclusions.
Word-stress was relatively free in ProtoIndoEuropean, but
Germanic languages including Old English tended to fix stress
on the vowel of the first syllable of each word.
For obvious reasons, this had importants consequences on the
evolution of the nominal morphemes used in Old English. For
example, Old English has strong nouns (a vowel in thematic
position, such as OE stn stone and sip ship) and weak nouns
(a consonant in thematic position, such as nama name). For
each noun, we have nominative case, accusative case, genitive
case and dative case. Cases are very important, because cases
indicate the function of each word in the language of Old
English. On the second hand, we also have in Old English
athematic nouns and minor classes. These nouns were stressed on
the first syllable, as their initial syllable received stress.
In sum, stress is very important in Old English, because it
depends on the type of nominal inflection people speaks tongues
have used themselves. (161WORDS)
SELFEVALUATION(mark your answer to Q1 here) 1 2 3 4 5
Please evaluate your answer from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest)
X

EVALUATION(please do not write here) 1 2 3 4 5
Knowledge of the topic
X
Organization of concepts
X
Correct use of linguistic terminology
X
CCC (conciseness, concretion & coherence)
X
Use of written English
X
MARK QUESTION 1
8/25
Comentario [U8]: Wholeparagraph

copiedfromquestiontext.
Comentario [U9]: Nothingisobvious
untilproperlyexplained.
Comentario [U10]: VBE(Verybad
English).
Comentario [U11]: What
consequencesexactly???
Comentario [U12]: Nothingtodowith
thequestion,completelyirrelevant
paragraph.Haveyouunderstoodthe
question?
Comentario [U13]: Whatwasthefirst
hand???
Comentario [U14]: Circularity,
repetitionofconcepts,poorexpression.
Comentario [U15]: Yes,butwewant
toknowwhy!
Comentario [U16]: VBE
Comentario [U17]: Somanywords,so
fewconcepts,solittleconcreteness.
Comentario [U18]: Highlypretentious

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HISTORYOFTHEENGLISHLANGUAGE1 JUNE2013

Comentario [U8]: Wholeparagraph

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