UFF 2010 Inglês - Questões

Read the text and answer the questions in English.

Tolkien’s love of language

Many believe that the world is experiencing a mass extinction of cultures, and that a loss of one culture - the collective intellect, memory, and values of a people transmitted from one generation to the next through language, stories, and art and other objects - is as profound as the loss of a biological species.

Cultural anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis explains: “A language isn’t just a body of vocabulary or a set of grammatical rules. It is a flash of the human spirit, a vehicle through which the soul of a particular culture comes into the material world. And when we lose a language, we lose a vital element of the human dream.”

Famous English writer J.R.R. Tolkien’s fascination with language and culture resonates throughout The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was a scholar with deep knowledge of languages both modern and ancient. His mother introduced him to the study of languages and cultures by teaching him Latin, French, and German at home; he expanded into others when he entered grammar school. He continued to learn many other languages throughout his schooling and career, including Welsh, Finnish, and Old Norse.

Professor of English Jane Chance explains that Tolkien was enchanted by language and by the power of language:

Tolkien well understood the power of the written and spoken word, philologist that he was - he knew that words were magic.

One of the most vivid expressions of Tolkien’s ability and interest in languages was the creation of his own. Over the course of his life he invented several languages, such as Elvish (including Quenya and Sindarin), Dwarvish (Khuzdul), Entish, and Black Speech. For Tolkien, language was the beginning of a culture rather than merely a product of it (1). “The invention of languages,” he wrote, “is the foundation. The ‘stories’ were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse.” In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien created Middle-earth as a home for his invented language [...]. Each invented language in this book plays a seminal role in the evolution of events and development of the characters in Tolkien’s story.

Examples of Tolkien’s Languages in The Lord of the Rings

Black Speech: “Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulúk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul - One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them”.

Quenya: “Elen sila lumenn’ omentielvo - A star shines on the hour of our meeting”

Dwarvish: “Khazâd-ai-mênu! - The Dwarves are upon vou!”

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/language.html

http://www.geocities.com/karenlpy_imagens/fellowship_map.jpg

According to the text, what does it mean when one culture vanishes from the Earth?

Read the text and answer the questions in English.

Tolkien’s love of language

Many believe that the world is experiencing a mass extinction of cultures, and that a loss of one culture - the collective intellect, memory, and values of a people transmitted from one generation to the next through language, stories, and art and other objects - is as profound as the loss of a biological species.

Cultural anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis explains: “A language isn’t just a body of vocabulary or a set of grammatical rules. It is a flash of the human spirit, a vehicle through which the soul of a particular culture comes into the material world. And when we lose a language, we lose a vital element of the human dream.”

Famous English writer J.R.R. Tolkien’s fascination with language and culture resonates throughout The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was a scholar with deep knowledge of languages both modern and ancient. His mother introduced him to the study of languages and cultures by teaching him Latin, French, and German at home; he expanded into others when he entered grammar school. He continued to learn many other languages throughout his schooling and career, including Welsh, Finnish, and Old Norse.

Professor of English Jane Chance explains that Tolkien was enchanted by language and by the power of language:

Tolkien well understood the power of the written and spoken word, philologist that he was - he knew that words were magic.

One of the most vivid expressions of Tolkien’s ability and interest in languages was the creation of his own. Over the course of his life he invented several languages, such as Elvish (including Quenya and Sindarin), Dwarvish (Khuzdul), Entish, and Black Speech. For Tolkien, language was the beginning of a culture rather than merely a product of it (1). “The invention of languages,” he wrote, “is the foundation. The ‘stories’ were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse.” In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien created Middle-earth as a home for his invented language [...]. Each invented language in this book plays a seminal role in the evolution of events and development of the characters in Tolkien’s story.

Examples of Tolkien’s Languages in The Lord of the Rings

Black Speech: “Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulúk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul - One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them”.

Quenya: “Elen sila lumenn’ omentielvo - A star shines on the hour of our meeting”

Dwarvish: “Khazâd-ai-mênu! - The Dwarves are upon vou!”

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/language.html

http://www.geocities.com/karenlpy_imagens/fellowship_map.jpg

As a writer, how does Tolkien show his enchantment by the power of language?

Read the text and answer the questions in English.

Tolkien’s love of language

Many believe that the world is experiencing a mass extinction of cultures, and that a loss of one culture - the collective intellect, memory, and values of a people transmitted from one generation to the next through language, stories, and art and other objects - is as profound as the loss of a biological species.

Cultural anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis explains: “A language isn’t just a body of vocabulary or a set of grammatical rules. It is a flash of the human spirit, a vehicle through which the soul of a particular culture comes into the material world. And when we lose a language, we lose a vital element of the human dream.”

Famous English writer J.R.R. Tolkien’s fascination with language and culture resonates throughout The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was a scholar with deep knowledge of languages both modern and ancient. His mother introduced him to the study of languages and cultures by teaching him Latin, French, and German at home; he expanded into others when he entered grammar school. He continued to learn many other languages throughout his schooling and career, including Welsh, Finnish, and Old Norse.

Professor of English Jane Chance explains that Tolkien was enchanted by language and by the power of language:

Tolkien well understood the power of the written and spoken word, philologist that he was - he knew that words were magic.

One of the most vivid expressions of Tolkien’s ability and interest in languages was the creation of his own. Over the course of his life he invented several languages, such as Elvish (including Quenya and Sindarin), Dwarvish (Khuzdul), Entish, and Black Speech. For Tolkien, language was the beginning of a culture rather than merely a product of it (1). “The invention of languages,” he wrote, “is the foundation. The ‘stories’ were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse.” In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien created Middle-earth as a home for his invented language [...]. Each invented language in this book plays a seminal role in the evolution of events and development of the characters in Tolkien’s story.

Examples of Tolkien’s Languages in The Lord of the Rings

Black Speech: “Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulúk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul - One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them”.

Quenya: “Elen sila lumenn’ omentielvo - A star shines on the hour of our meeting”

Dwarvish: “Khazâd-ai-mênu! - The Dwarves are upon vou!”

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/language.html

http://www.geocities.com/karenlpy_imagens/fellowship_map.jpg

"For Tolkien, language was the beginning of a culture rather than merely a product of it”. (1). Comment.

Read the text and answer the questions in English.

Tolkien’s love of language

Many believe that the world is experiencing a mass extinction of cultures, and that a loss of one culture - the collective intellect, memory, and values of a people transmitted from one generation to the next through language, stories, and art and other objects - is as profound as the loss of a biological species.

Cultural anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis explains: “A language isn’t just a body of vocabulary or a set of grammatical rules. It is a flash of the human spirit, a vehicle through which the soul of a particular culture comes into the material world. And when we lose a language, we lose a vital element of the human dream.”

Famous English writer J.R.R. Tolkien’s fascination with language and culture resonates throughout The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was a scholar with deep knowledge of languages both modern and ancient. His mother introduced him to the study of languages and cultures by teaching him Latin, French, and German at home; he expanded into others when he entered grammar school. He continued to learn many other languages throughout his schooling and career, including Welsh, Finnish, and Old Norse.

Professor of English Jane Chance explains that Tolkien was enchanted by language and by the power of language:

Tolkien well understood the power of the written and spoken word, philologist that he was - he knew that words were magic.

One of the most vivid expressions of Tolkien’s ability and interest in languages was the creation of his own. Over the course of his life he invented several languages, such as Elvish (including Quenya and Sindarin), Dwarvish (Khuzdul), Entish, and Black Speech. For Tolkien, language was the beginning of a culture rather than merely a product of it (1). “The invention of languages,” he wrote, “is the foundation. The ‘stories’ were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse.” In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien created Middle-earth as a home for his invented language [...]. Each invented language in this book plays a seminal role in the evolution of events and development of the characters in Tolkien’s story.

Examples of Tolkien’s Languages in The Lord of the Rings

Black Speech: “Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulúk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul - One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them”.

Quenya: “Elen sila lumenn’ omentielvo - A star shines on the hour of our meeting”

Dwarvish: “Khazâd-ai-mênu! - The Dwarves are upon vou!”

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/language.html

http://www.geocities.com/karenlpy_imagens/fellowship_map.jpg

Writers use ellipsis, the omission of words or group of words in a text, to avoid repetition and to allow discourse to flow more smoothly. Identify one case of ellipsis in the text and say what it is omitting.

Read the text and answer the questions in English.

Tolkien’s love of language

Many believe that the world is experiencing a mass extinction of cultures, and that a loss of one culture - the collective intellect, memory, and values of a people transmitted from one generation to the next through language, stories, and art and other objects - is as profound as the loss of a biological species.

Cultural anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis explains: “A language isn’t just a body of vocabulary or a set of grammatical rules. It is a flash of the human spirit, a vehicle through which the soul of a particular culture comes into the material world. And when we lose a language, we lose a vital element of the human dream.”

Famous English writer J.R.R. Tolkien’s fascination with language and culture resonates throughout The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was a scholar with deep knowledge of languages both modern and ancient. His mother introduced him to the study of languages and cultures by teaching him Latin, French, and German at home; he expanded into others when he entered grammar school. He continued to learn many other languages throughout his schooling and career, including Welsh, Finnish, and Old Norse.

Professor of English Jane Chance explains that Tolkien was enchanted by language and by the power of language:

Tolkien well understood the power of the written and spoken word, philologist that he was - he knew that words were magic.

One of the most vivid expressions of Tolkien’s ability and interest in languages was the creation of his own. Over the course of his life he invented several languages, such as Elvish (including Quenya and Sindarin), Dwarvish (Khuzdul), Entish, and Black Speech. For Tolkien, language was the beginning of a culture rather than merely a product of it (1). “The invention of languages,” he wrote, “is the foundation. The ‘stories’ were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse.” In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien created Middle-earth as a home for his invented language [...]. Each invented language in this book plays a seminal role in the evolution of events and development of the characters in Tolkien’s story.

Examples of Tolkien’s Languages in The Lord of the Rings

Black Speech: “Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulúk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul - One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them”.

Quenya: “Elen sila lumenn’ omentielvo - A star shines on the hour of our meeting”

Dwarvish: “Khazâd-ai-mênu! - The Dwarves are upon vou!”

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/language.html

http://www.geocities.com/karenlpy_imagens/fellowship_map.jpg

What are the facts of Tolkien’s life that may have influenced his fascination for languages?