BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

English and the Austronesian language Mbarbaram

Expert replies
by ska7945 » Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:10 am
English and the Austronesian language Mbarbaram both use the word “dog” for canines. These two languages are unrelated, and since speakers of the two languages only came in contact with one another long after the word “dog” was first used in this way in either language, neither language could have borrowed the word from the other. Thus this case shows that sometimes when languages share words that are similar in sound and meaning the similarity is due neither to language relatedness nor to borrowing.

The argument requires that which one of the following be assumes?

(A) English and Mbarbaram share no words other than “dog.”
(B) Several languages besides English and Mbarbaram use “dog” as the word for canines.
(C) Usually when two languages share a word, those languages are related to each other.
(D) There is no third language from which both English and Mbarbaram borrowed the word “dog.”
(E) If two unrelated languages share a word, speakers of those two languages must have come in contact with one another at some time.
let's beat GMAT.
Join the discussion
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by ska7945 » Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:12 am
i had c but oa shows D.
how can we reject c and accept oa for answer?
i thought c was pretty close.
let's beat GMAT.
Join the discussion

by aj5105 » Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:09 am
Is it A?
Join the discussion

by stop@800 » Sun Sep 28, 2008 11:29 am
The conclusion is

sometimes
Languages that shared words [same sound + meaning] it is not due to relatedness or borrowing.

for assumption
we need to find something that help us reach the conclusion

so D is clearly the missing link

For C
it defines related languages
but we do not have any reference for related languages nor do we need
also
language can also be related if speaker of one passes some information to designer of another [this is indirectly said also]
or xyz reasons

Hope it helps
Join the discussion

by ska7945 » Wed Oct 01, 2008 1:53 am
thanks stop@800
let's beat GMAT.
Join the discussion

by peter.p.81 » Wed May 11, 2016 2:44 am
I'm pretty confident that A is correct answer.
Join the discussion