NEB Class 12 Humanities Linguistics Question Paper 2082 (Set B) Nepal

Any two places of articulation are:

• Bilabial (both lips, e.g. /p/, /b/, /m/)
• Alveolar (tongue tip against the alveolar ridge, e.g. /t/, /d/, /n/)

(Other acceptable answers: dental, labio-dental, palatal, velar, glottal.)

• Voiced sounds (vocal cords vibrate): /b/, /d/ (also /g/, /z/, /m/).
• Voiceless sounds (no vocal-cord vibration): /p/, /t/ (also /k/, /s/, /f/).

A minimal pair differing only in the two phonemes is पानी (pani, 'water') vs पाली (pali, 'turn')? — more directly, for /n/ vs /m/: नाम (nam) – मान (man) is not minimal; a true minimal pair is नल (nal, 'tap') – मल (mal, 'manure'), which differ only in the initial /n/ ~ /m/, proving they are separate Nepali phonemes.

Stress (बलाघात) is the extra prominence, force or loudness given to a particular syllable of a word (or word in a sentence), making it stand out from the surrounding unstressed syllables.

Joining of constituents of similar status is called coordination.

Two examples of antonymy (opposite meaning):

• hot — cold
• big — small

Language change refers to the gradual modification that occurs in a language over time in its sounds, vocabulary, grammar and meaning, so that the language of one generation differs from that of earlier generations.

Two advantages of contrastive analysis:

1. It predicts the errors a learner is likely to make by comparing the mother tongue (L1) and the target language (L2).
2. It helps prepare better teaching materials and lessons by focusing on the points of difference/difficulty between the two languages.

Language testing is the systematic process of measuring and evaluating a learner's knowledge, proficiency or ability in a language (in skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing) by means of tests or examinations.

Two languages used as subjects in Nepal: Nepali and English (others taught as subjects include Maithili, Newari/Nepal Bhasa, Sanskrit, Hindi).

Mother tongue is the first language a person acquires naturally in early childhood, usually from the family and home environment, and which the person identifies with and uses most fluently.

Bases for classifying the vowels of a language

Vowels are voiced speech sounds produced without any obstruction to the airstream. They are classified mainly on the following bases:

1. Height / closeness of the tongue (vertical position): how high or low the tongue is raised.

   • Close (high): /i/, /u/
   • Mid: /e/, /o/
   • Open (low): /a/

2. Part of the tongue raised / frontness–backness (horizontal position):

   • Front: /i/, /e/
   • Central: /ə/
   • Back: /u/, /o/

3. Position / rounding of the lips:

   • Rounded: /u/, /o/
   • Unrounded (spread/neutral): /i/, /e/, /a/

4. Length of the vowel: short vs long vowels (e.g. /i/ vs /iː/).

5. Nasality: oral vs nasal vowels — whether the soft palate is lowered to let air through the nose (e.g. Nepali ãsu).

These parameters together (the vowel quadrilateral of height × backness × rounding, plus length and nasality) allow every vowel of a language to be described and distinguished.

OR — Importance of phonetics

1. It gives an accurate, objective description and classification of speech sounds of any language.
2. It is the basis of phonemic/phonological analysis and of devising scripts and the IPA.
3. It is essential for teaching and learning pronunciation and correct articulation in language teaching.
4. It helps in speech therapy (correcting speech defects) and in treating speech/hearing disorders.
5. It aids language documentation, dictionary-making and dialect study, and underpins speech technology (recognition and synthesis).

Distribution of Nepali vowels

Distribution describes the positions in a word in which a vowel phoneme can occur — word-initial, word-medial and word-final. Nepali has six basic oral vowels: /i, e, a, ə, o, u/ (each also having nasal counterparts).

Most Nepali vowels occur in all three positions:

Points to note:

• The schwa /ə/ is freely distributed initially and medially but is generally not found in word-final position in standard Nepali.
• Nasal vowels (e.g. आँ, ईं) also occur in initial, medial and final positions: आँखा, हाँस, माँ.
• Vowels can occur in sequence to form diphthong-like clusters (e.g. भाइ, गाई).

Thus, except for the restriction on final /ə/, Nepali vowels show a wide distribution across all word positions.

Compounding in word formation

Compounding is the morphological process of forming a new word by joining two or more independent words (free morphemes / roots) to create a single new lexical item with a unified meaning. The new word is called a compound.

Characteristics:

• The constituents are themselves complete words (e.g. black + board).
• The compound behaves as one word grammatically and often has a meaning not fully predictable from its parts (e.g. blackboard ≠ a board that is black).
• One element (usually the right-hand one in English/Nepali) acts as the head, determining the word class.

Examples:

• English: blackboard, classroom, sunflower, post-office, mother-in-law.
• Nepali: घरबार (ghar + bār, 'household'), राजकुमार (rāja + kumār, 'prince'), देशभक्त (desh + bhakta, 'patriot'), हातखुट्टा (hāt + khuṭṭā).

Types: endocentric (one part is head — armchair), exocentric (head outside — pickpocket), copulative/dvandva (both equal — आमाबाबु).

Thus compounding is a highly productive way of enriching the vocabulary of a language.

Clause

Definition: A clause is a grammatical unit that is higher than a phrase and contains a subject and a predicate (a finite verb). It is the basic unit out of which sentences are built.

Types of clause:

1. Independent (main) clause — can stand alone as a complete sentence.

   • Ram reads a book.
   • She is singing.

2. Dependent (subordinate) clause — has a subject and verb but cannot stand alone; it depends on a main clause.

   • ...because he was tired (adverbial clause): He slept because he was tired.
   • ...that you said (noun clause): I know that you said this.
   • ...who came yesterday (relative/adjective clause): The boy who came yesterday is my friend.

Example analysis: In When it rained, the children went home,

• When it rained = subordinate (adverbial) clause,
• the children went home = main clause.

A sentence may contain one clause (simple), two or more main clauses (compound), or main + subordinate clauses (complex).

Homophony

Definition: Homophony is the sense relation in which two or more words have the same pronunciation (sound) but different meanings, and usually different spellings. Such words are called homophones (Greek homo 'same' + phone 'sound').

Key features:

• Identical in sound, different in meaning.
• Often differ in spelling (unlike homonyms, which share both spelling and sound).

Examples (English):

• son /sʌn/ — sun /sʌn/
• to – too – two /tuː/
• write – right /raɪt/
• meet – meat /miːt/
• flower – flour /flaʊə/

Examples (Nepali):

• दिन (din, 'day') — दिन (din, 'to give') — same sound, different meaning.

Homophony is a source of ambiguity in speech (since the words sound alike) and is often exploited in puns.

Basic elements of pedagogical grammar

Pedagogical grammar is grammar designed and simplified for the purpose of teaching and learning a language (as opposed to a theoretical or reference grammar). Its basic elements are:

1. Selection of content — choosing the grammatical items (rules, structures) relevant and useful to the learner's level and needs.
2. Grading / sequencing — arranging items from simple to complex and from more useful to less useful.
3. Clear, simple presentation of rules — explaining structures in learner-friendly language with adequate examples.
4. Examples and illustrations — abundant authentic examples and contexts that show how the rule works.
5. Practice and exercises — controlled and free activities for reinforcement and production.
6. Learner orientation — sensitivity to the learner's age, mother tongue, and likely difficulties (often informed by contrastive analysis).

Thus pedagogical grammar is descriptive, selective, graded, and learner-centred, aiming at practical command of the language.

OR — Basic principles (assumptions) of contrastive analysis

1. Languages can be compared — the systems of L1 and L2 can be systematically compared level by level (phonology, morphology, syntax, lexis).
2. L1 interference/transfer is the main source of errors — learners transfer the habits of their mother tongue to the target language.
3. Similarities cause ease, differences cause difficulty — where L1 and L2 are similar, learning is easy (positive transfer); where they differ, errors occur (negative transfer/interference).
4. Predictability of errors — by comparing the two languages, the difficulties and errors of the learner can be predicted in advance.
5. Pedagogical application — these predictions can be used to design teaching materials and focus on areas of difference.

Can multilingual education be implemented in Nepal?

Yes, multilingual education (MLE) can and should be implemented in Nepal, though with challenges. Arguments:

Arguments in favour:

1. Linguistic diversity — Nepal has over 120 languages; MLE recognises and uses children's mother tongues, especially in early grades.
2. Better learning — children learn concepts faster and more effectively in their mother tongue (mother-tongue-based MLE reduces dropout and improves comprehension).
3. Constitutional and policy support — the Constitution of Nepal grants every community the right to education in its mother tongue, providing a legal basis.
4. Preservation of languages and culture — MLE protects endangered languages and promotes cultural identity and equality.
5. Inclusion and equity — it brings marginalised, indigenous and minority-language children into education.

Challenges (to be managed):

• Lack of trained teachers, textbooks and materials in many languages.
• Cost and resource constraints; choice of script and standardisation.
• Multilingual classrooms with several mother tongues.

Conclusion: With adequate planning, teacher training, materials development and political will, multilingual (mother-tongue-based) education is feasible and desirable in Nepal.

Lexical change

Lexical change is a type of language change that affects the vocabulary (lexicon) of a language. Over time, words are added, lost, borrowed, or changed in form or meaning.

Main forms of lexical change with examples:

1. Addition of new words (coinage/neologism): new words enter the language for new objects/ideas, e.g. internet, mobile, selfie, lockdown.
2. Borrowing (loan words): words taken from other languages, e.g. Nepali borrows टेबल (table), स्कुल (school), रेडियो (radio) from English.
3. Loss / obsolescence: old words fall out of use (archaic words like thou, thee).
4. Semantic change (change in meaning of existing words): e.g. nice once meant 'foolish', now means 'pleasant'; gay once meant 'cheerful'.
5. Word-formation processes (compounding, derivation, clipping, blending) add new words, e.g. brunch (breakfast + lunch).

Thus lexical change keeps the vocabulary of a language alive and responsive to social and technological change.

The organs of speech (speech organs)

The speech organs (vocal organs / articulators) are the parts of the human body used to produce speech sounds. They are grouped into three systems.

Description of the diagram

(A labelled mid-sagittal section of the head should be drawn showing the air passage from the lungs upward.) From bottom to top the diagram shows: lungs → trachea (windpipe) → larynx with vocal cords → pharynx → the oral cavity (with lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, soft palate/velum, uvula, tongue) and the nasal cavity.

1. The respiratory system (the air supply)

• Lungs — provide the airstream (pulmonic egressive air) that is the raw material for almost all speech sounds.
• Trachea (windpipe) — carries air from the lungs to the larynx.

2. The phonatory system (the larynx)

• Larynx (voice box) containing the vocal cords (vocal folds) and the glottis (the space between them). When the cords vibrate the sound is voiced (/b, d, g, z/); when they are open and do not vibrate the sound is voiceless (/p, t, k, s/).

3. The articulatory system (the resonating/modifying cavities)

Above the larynx lie the cavities and articulators that shape the sound:

• Pharynx — the cavity behind the tongue.
• Oral cavity / mouth, with the articulators:
  • Lips (labia) — produce bilabial sounds /p, b, m/.
  • Teeth — produce dental sounds /θ, ð/.
  • Alveolar ridge (gum ridge behind upper teeth) — /t, d, n, s/.
  • Hard palate — palatal sounds /j/.
  • Soft palate (velum) — velar sounds /k, g, ŋ/; raised for oral, lowered for nasal sounds.
  • Uvula — uvular sounds.
  • Tongue — the most active articulator, divided into tip, blade, front, back and root.
• Nasal cavity — when the velum is lowered, air escapes through the nose producing nasal sounds /m, n, ŋ/.

Active vs passive articulators

• Active articulators (that move): lower lip, tongue, vocal cords.
• Passive articulators (that stay still): upper lip, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate.

Together these organs control the airstream, voicing and place/manner of articulation to produce all the sounds of human speech.

Importance of morphology in language research

Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies the internal structure of words and the way words are formed from morphemes (the smallest meaningful units). Its importance in language research:

1. Understanding word structure — it analyses words into roots, stems and affixes (e.g. un-happi-ness), revealing how words are built.
2. Word-formation study — it explains how new words are created (derivation, inflection, compounding), essential for studying the productivity of a language.
3. Basis for grammar (syntax) research — inflectional morphology (tense, number, case, agreement) connects words into grammatical sentences, so morphology underpins syntactic analysis.
4. Dictionary-making (lexicography) — identifying base forms and derivations is essential for arranging entries and showing word families.
5. Language teaching and learning — knowledge of affixes and word formation helps learners build and decode vocabulary.
6. Comparative and historical research — comparing morphological systems helps classify languages (isolating, agglutinative, inflectional) and trace language change and relationships.
7. Computational/NLP research — morphological analysis (stemming, parsing) is fundamental for machine translation, spell-checkers and language processing.

Thus morphology is a foundational level of linguistic research, bridging phonology, lexis and syntax.

OR — Types of word-formation processes (with examples)

Word formation is the creation of new words from existing material. The main processes are:

1. Derivation (affixation): adding prefixes/suffixes to a root.
   • happy → unhappy → unhappiness; Nepali सुन्दर → सुन्दरता.
2. Compounding: joining two free words.
   • black + board → blackboard; Nepali घर + बार → घरबार.
3. Inflection: adding grammatical endings (number, tense, etc.).
   • book → books, walk → walked.
4. Conversion (zero-derivation): changing word class without adding an affix.
   • to email (verb) ← email (noun); a run ← to run.
5. Clipping: shortening a longer word.
   • advertisement → ad, telephone → phone.
6. Blending: merging parts of two words.
   • breakfast + lunch → brunch; smoke + fog → smog.
7. Acronymy / initialism: forming words from initial letters.
   • NASA, radar, UNESCO.
8. Borrowing: taking words from other languages.
   • Nepali स्कुल, टेबल, रेडियो (from English).
9. Back-formation: removing a supposed affix.
   • editor → to edit; television → to televise.
10. Coinage: inventing entirely new words, e.g. xerox, google.

These processes continuously enrich and expand the vocabulary of a language.

Steps of Error Analysis

Error analysis (EA) is the study of the errors made by second/foreign-language learners in order to understand the process of language learning. Following S. P. Corder, it is carried out in the following systematic steps:

1. Collection of a sample of learner language

Gather data of learner performance — written compositions, speech, tests, etc. — from a defined group of learners under defined conditions (the size and type of sample affect the results).

2. Identification of errors

Go through the data and locate the errors. Here a distinction is made between errors and mistakes:

• Errors are systematic, due to gaps in the learner's competence (lack of knowledge).
• Mistakes are unsystematic slips of performance (tiredness, carelessness) that the learner can self-correct. Only genuine errors are analysed.

3. Description of errors

Classify and describe the identified errors according to linguistic level and type, e.g.:

• Level: phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical.
• Type (surface strategy): omission, addition, misformation/substitution, and misordering. Example: "He go to school" — omission of the inflection -es.

4. Explanation of errors

Find the sources/causes of the errors — the most important and explanatory stage. Common sources:

• Interlingual errors (interference/transfer) from the mother tongue (L1).
• Intralingual / developmental errors within the target language itself, e.g. overgeneralisation (goed for went), faulty rule application, incomplete rule learning.
• Errors due to teaching materials or strategies.

5. Evaluation of errors

Judge the seriousness/gravity of the errors — e.g. whether an error affects communication (global error) or not (local error) — and decide which errors need correction and what remedial teaching is required.

Significance

The results of these steps provide feedback for syllabus design, materials production and remedial teaching, and give insight into the learner's developing system (interlanguage). Thus error analysis treats errors not merely as faults but as a valuable window on the language-learning process.