Objective: To practice applying some of the basic ideas behind the concept of genetic relatedness between languages. (10pts total)
1) Look at the gloss (a type of translation) and decide which gloss represents a concept that belongs to a Basic Level Vocabulary, and which gloss represents a concept that is not a Basic Level Vocabulary.
A note on spelling. The grave accent indicates a long vowel; it can be ignored. The vowels æ, œ, and ? represent vowels like the a in English 'hat,' the œu in French 'sœur,' and the u in French tu. When making comparisons, pay particular attention to the beginning of words and also to consonants. Comparing vowels may not help much here.
2) Once 1) is completed, fill in the following chart with the words that are NOT considered basic level vocabulary. Put the gloss on the far left. Then fill in the appropriate Finnish & Hungarian word in the matching column. The first example is done for you. Remember that here you focus only on the meaning of the words.
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WORLD ON OUR LIST THAT ARE NOT CONSIDERED BASIC LEVEL VOCABULARY
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Gloss
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Finnish
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Hungarian
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A) church
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Kirkko
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Templom
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b)
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Etc...
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Cross the words you put here off of the main list. They are not basic level vocabulary. Therefore, they are not relevant to establishing whether the two languages are related. Some of these words may look very similar, why do you think this is so?
3) Step three: Look for systematic sound correspondences in the remaining words. It is sufficient to find four sound correspondences (including the example in (a)), if they exist. The correspondences can either be that the sound is the SAME in both languages, or that the sound is systematically different in each language. This is like what we did in the Polynesian language exercise. The first one is done for you. You could also note anything else about the pronunciation of the two languages that you think looks like a pattern.
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Systematic Sound Correspondences
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Evidence ( line number of example that illustrate your observations)
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Finnish
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Hungarian
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a) 4, 11
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t
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t
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b)
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C)
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D)
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.....
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5) Do you think these languages are related? Do you think they are closely related?
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gloss
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Finnish
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Hungarian
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1) child
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lapsi
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?ermek
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2) church
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kirkko
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templom
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3) six
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kusi
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hat
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4) fire
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tuli
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t?¯z
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5) head
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pæ¯
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fej
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6) three
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kolme
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harmon
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7) cracker
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keksi
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keks
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8) water
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vesi
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viz
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9) fish
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kala
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hal
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10) cloud
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pilvi
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felhœ¯
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11) winter
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talvi
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tel
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12) sugar
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sokeri
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tsukor
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13) tree
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pu
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fa
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14) tongue
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kieli
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?elv
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15) eye
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silmæ
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sem
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16) blood
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veri
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ver
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17) death
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kuolema
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halal
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18) zero
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nolla
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nulla
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19) son
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poika
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fiu
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20) under
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ala
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alla
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21) hear
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kulla
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hall
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22) heel
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suoni
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in
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23) nose
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nenæ
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orr
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24) soap
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saippua
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sappan
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25) soft
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pehmeæ
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puha
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26) ice
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jæ¯
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jeg
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27) nest
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pesæ
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fesek
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6) If you believe the two languages to be related, what persuades you? How closely do you feel the languages are related and why? Your answer should be clear and succinct. Attach (a copy of) any handwritten worksheets on the Finnish/Hungarian problem to end of this assignment.