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Difficulty: MediumInferences from the Text

Until the early twentieth century, historical linguists widely held that the division between the 'centum' and 'satem' branches of the Indo-European language family corresponded to a strict geographical divide, with centum languages situated exclusively in the west (Europe) and satem languages in the east (Asia). This geographic paradigm was overturned by the discovery and decipherment of Tocharian manuscripts in the Tarim Basin of western China. Tocharian was unambiguously identified as a centum language, demonstrating that velar stop consonants had been preserved as stops rather than undergoing the palatalization characteristic of satem languages. Because Tocharian existed thousands of miles east of all other known centum languages, scholars initially hypothesized that speakers of Tocharian had migrated eastward after the centum-satem divergence occurred. However, subsequent morphological analyses revealed that Tocharian lacks certain nominal innovations shared by all other eastern Indo-European branches, while preserving archaic grammatical features found elsewhere only in Anatolian languages.

Based on the passage, which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the text?

  1. The eastern geographic distribution of an Indo-European language does not establish that the language underwent the consonant palatalization typical of satem languages.Answer
  2. B
    Tocharian speakers must have migrated to the Tarim Basin before any satem-speaking populations migrated into Asia.
  3. C
    Anatolian languages were originally spoken primarily in Central Asia before spreading westward into the Mediterranean.
  4. D
    The nominal innovations present in eastern Indo-European branches directly caused the phonological shift from velar stops to palatal consonants.
  5. E
    Linguists have determined that satem languages represent an earlier stage of Indo-European development than centum languages.

Answer

The statement that an Indo-European language's eastern geographic distribution does not establish that it underwent consonant palatalization is most strongly supported.
The correct answer accurately synthesizes the text's explanation that historical linguists initially correlated eastern geography with satem languages (which underwent velar stop palatalization). The existence of Tocharian in western China as a centum language that preserved velar stops proves that eastern location does not guarantee palatalization.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the defining phonological characteristics and original geographic assumptions described in the passage.
Linguists originally assumed all eastern Indo-European languages were 'satem' languages, which are defined by undergoing the palatalization of velar stop consonants.
This establishes the baseline expectation prior to the discovery of Tocharian.
2
Synthesize the facts regarding the discovery and classification of Tocharian.
Tocharian was discovered in western China (an eastern geographic region) but is classified as a centum language because it preserved velar stops without undergoing palatalization.
Connecting location with classification reveals the direct counterexample to the old geographic rule.
3
Deduce the necessary logical implication.
Because an eastern language (Tocharian) retained velar stops as stops, geographical presence in the east does not guarantee the presence of satem palatalization.
This matches the correct inference without adding unsupported assumptions.

Key Concept

Drawing a direct inference by identifying how a factual counterexample disproves a generalized correlation.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Inferences from the Text

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