The large external sculptural schemes of Early Gothic churches gave way to more sculpture inside the building, as tombs became more elaborate and other features such as pulpits were sometimes lavishly carved, as in the Pulpit by Giovanni Pisano in Sant'Andrea. Painted or carved wooden relief altarpieces became common, especially as churches created many side-chapels. Early Netherlandish painting by artists such as Jan van Eyck (d. 1441) and Rogier van der Weyden (d. 1464) rivalled that of Italy, as did northern illuminated manuscripts, which in the 15th century began to be collected on a large scale by secular elites, who also commissioned secular books, especially histories. From about 1450 printed books rapidly became popular, though still expensive. There were around 30,000 different editions of incunabula, or works printed before 1500, by which time illuminated manuscripts were commissioned only by royalty and a few others. Very small woodcuts, nearly all religious, were affordable even by peasants in parts of Northern Europe from the middle of the 15th century. More expensive engravings supplied a wealthier market with a variety of images.

Who carved the Pulpit in Sant'Andrea?

Giovanni Pisano

Along with being carved, how were altarpieces often decorated in this period?

Painted

When did Rogier van der Weyden die?

Of what nationality was Jan van Eyck?

Netherlandish

What does incunabula refer to?

works printed before 1500


The medieval period is frequently caricatured as a "time of ignorance and superstition" that placed "the word of religious authorities over personal experience and rational activity." This is a legacy from both the Renaissance and Enlightenment, when scholars contrasted their intellectual cultures with those of the medieval period, to the detriment of the Middle Ages. Renaissance scholars saw the Middle Ages as a period of decline from the high culture and civilisation of the Classical world; Enlightenment scholars saw reason as superior to faith, and thus viewed the Middle Ages as a time of ignorance and superstition.

Along with the Renaissance, during what period were the Middle Ages disparaged?

Enlightenment

What era did Renaissance scholars negatively compare the Middle Ages to?

the Classical world

How did scholars of the Enlightenment see the Middle Ages?

as a time of ignorance and superstition

What did Enlightenment scholars consider to be inferior to reason?

faith


Others argue that reason was generally held in high regard during the Middle Ages. Science historian Edward Grant writes, "If revolutionary rational thoughts were expressed [in the 18th century], they were only made possible because of the long medieval tradition that established the use of reason as one of the most important of human activities". Also, contrary to common belief, David Lindberg writes, "the late medieval scholar rarely experienced the coercive power of the church and would have regarded himself as free (particularly in the natural sciences) to follow reason and observation wherever they led".

What is Edward Grant a historian of?

Science

Who argued that scholars in the Middle Ages were rarely coerced by the Church?

David Lindberg

According to Grant, the medieval use of reason was the forerunner the revolutionary rationalism of what century?


The caricature of the period is also reflected in some more specific notions. One misconception, first propagated in the 19th century and still very common, is that all people in the Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat. This is untrue, as lecturers in the medieval universities commonly argued that evidence showed the Earth was a sphere. Lindberg and Ronald Numbers, another scholar of the period, state that there "was scarcely a Christian scholar of the Middle Ages who did not acknowledge [Earth's] sphericity and even know its approximate circumference". Other misconceptions such as "the Church prohibited autopsies and dissections during the Middle Ages", "the rise of Christianity killed off ancient science", or "the medieval Christian church suppressed the growth of natural philosophy", are all cited by Numbers as examples of widely popular myths that still pass as historical truth, although they are not supported by current historical research.

During what century was it first proposed that people in the Middle Ages thought the Earth was flat?

Along with autopsies, what is it erroneously believed that the medieval Church forbade?

dissections

According to a misconception, what did the rise of Christianity destroy?

ancient science

According to another misconception, what field of study was the medieval Church opposed to?

natural philosophy

Along with Lindberg, who is a notable scholar of the Middle Ages?

Ronald Numbers


Phonology is a branch of linguistics concerned with the systematic organization of sounds in languages. It has traditionally focused largely on the study of the systems of phonemes in particular languages (and therefore used to be also called phonemics, or phonematics), but it may also cover any linguistic analysis either at a level beneath the word (including syllable, onset and rime, articulatory gestures, articulatory features, mora, etc.) or at all levels of language where sound is considered to be structured for conveying linguistic meaning. Phonology also includes the study of equivalent organizational systems in sign languages.

What is phonology a branch of?

linguistics

What kind of systems are the traditional focus of phonology?

phonemes

The study of sign language is a part of what?

Phonology

What is articulator a branch of?

I'm not sure.

What kind of systems are the traditional focus of linguistics?

I'm not sure.

What is the study of branches a part of?

I'm not sure.

What is a branch of levels?

I'm not sure.

What kind of systems did branches focus on?

I'm not sure.


The word phonology (as in the phonology of English) can also refer to the phonological system (sound system) of a given language. This is one of the fundamental systems which a language is considered to comprise, like its syntax and its vocabulary.

What part of a language can phonology as a word also refer to?

the phonological system

What is another term for phonological system?

sound system

Aside from syntax and the phonological system, what else comprises a language?

vocabulary

What sort of language system is phonology?

fundamental

What part of a language can vocabulary as a word also refer to?

I'm not sure.

What is another term for vocabulary?

I'm not sure.

Aside from syntax and the phonological system what else comprises words?

I'm not sure.

What sort of language system is vocabulary?

I'm not sure.

What is an example of vocabulary?

I'm not sure.


Phonology is often distinguished from phonetics. While phonetics concerns the physical production, acoustic transmission and perception of the sounds of speech, phonology describes the way sounds function within a given language or across languages to encode meaning. For many linguists, phonetics belongs to descriptive linguistics, and phonology to theoretical linguistics, although establishing the phonological system of a language is necessarily an application of theoretical principles to analysis of phonetic evidence. Note that this distinction was not always made, particularly before the development of the modern concept of the phoneme in the mid 20th century. Some subfields of modern phonology have a crossover with phonetics in descriptive disciplines such as psycholinguistics and speech perception, resulting in specific areas like articulatory phonology or laboratory phonology.

What branch of linguistics is phonology distinguished from?

phonetics

What kind of linguistics is phonetics considered to be a part of?

descriptive

Phonology is generally considered a part of the theoretical side of what discipline?

linguistics

When was the phonome's modern concept developed?

mid 20th century

What subfield of modern phonology other than phsycholinguistics crosses over with phonetics?

speech perception

What branch of linguistics is laboratory distinguished from?

I'm not sure.

What kind of linguistics is laboratory considered to be a part of?

I'm not sure.

Laboratory is generally considered a part of the theoretical side of what discipline?

I'm not sure.

When was the laboratory's modern concept developed?

I'm not sure.

What subfield of modern phonology other than phsycholinguistics crosses over with laboratory?

I'm not sure.


The word phonology comes from the Greek φωνή, phōnḗ, "voice, sound," and the suffix -logy (which is from Greek λόγος, lógos, "word, speech, subject of discussion"). Definitions of the term vary. Nikolai Trubetzkoy in Grundzüge der Phonologie (1939) defines phonology as "the study of sound pertaining to the system of language," as opposed to phonetics, which is "the study of sound pertaining to the act of speech" (the distinction between language and speech being basically Saussure's distinction between langue and parole). More recently, Lass (1998) writes that phonology refers broadly to the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language, while in more narrow terms, "phonology proper is concerned with the function, behavior and organization of sounds as linguistic items." According to Clark et al. (2007), it means the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use.

What language does phonology as a word come from?

Greek

What Greek word is -logy derived from?

lógos

Who in 1939 defined phonology?

Nikolai Trubetzkoy

A distinction was drawn between language and what?

speech

When did Lass write about phonology?

What language does speech as a word come from?

I'm not sure.

What Greek word is speech derived from?

I'm not sure.

Who in 1939 defined speech?

I'm not sure.

A distinction was drawn between phonology and what?

I'm not sure.

When did Lass write about speech?

I'm not sure.


The history of phonology may be traced back to the Ashtadhyayi, the Sanskrit grammar composed by Pāṇini in the 4th century BC. In particular the Shiva Sutras, an auxiliary text to the Ashtadhyayi, introduces what can be considered a list of the phonemes of the Sanskrit language, with a notational system for them that is used throughout the main text, which deals with matters of morphology, syntax and semantics.

What type of grammar was phonology first a part of?

Sanskrit

What is the name of ancient Sanskrit grammar?

Ashtadhyayi

Who first composed the Ashtadhyayi?

Pāṇini

During what time period did Panini do his work?

4th century BC

What other text was related to the Ashtadhyayi?

the Shiva Sutras

What type of grammar were phenomes first a part of?

I'm not sure.

What is the name of ancient phenome grammar?

I'm not sure.

Who first composed the Sanskrit language?

I'm not sure.

During what time period did the Sanskrit language begin?

I'm not sure.

What other text was related to morphology?

I'm not sure.


The Polish scholar Jan Baudouin de Courtenay (together with his former student Mikołaj Kruszewski) introduced the concept of the phoneme in 1876, and his work, though often unacknowledged, is considered to be the starting point of modern phonology. He also worked on the theory of phonetic alternations (what is now called allophony and morphophonology), and had a significant influence on the work of Ferdinand de Saussure.

When was the phoneme as a concept introduced?

Who was Jan Baudouin de Courtenay's student?

Mikołaj Kruszewski

What nationality was de Courtenay?

Polish

What was de Courtenay's profession?

scholar

Who was influenced by  Jan Baudouin de Courtenay?

Ferdinand de Saussure

When was allophony as a concept introduced?

I'm not sure.

Who was Jan Baudouin de Courtenay's father?

I'm not sure.

What nationality was Kruszewski?

I'm not sure.

What was Kruszewski's profession?

I'm not sure.

Who was influenced by Mikolaj Kruszewski?

I'm not sure.


An influential school of phonology in the interwar period was the Prague school. One of its leading members was Prince Nikolai Trubetzkoy, whose Grundzüge der Phonologie (Principles of Phonology), published posthumously in 1939, is among the most important works in the field from this period. Directly influenced by Baudouin de Courtenay, Trubetzkoy is considered the founder of morphophonology, although this concept had also been recognized by de Courtenay. Trubetzkoy also developed the concept of the archiphoneme. Another important figure in the Prague school was Roman Jakobson, who was one of the most prominent linguists of the 20th century.

What was Nikolai Trubetzkoy's publication?

Principles of Phonology

When was Principles of Phonology published?

What is Trubetzkoy considered to have founded?

morphophonology

What school was Trubetzkoy a member of?

the Prague school.

What was Trubetzkoy's title?

Prince

What was Baudouin de Courtenay's publication?

I'm not sure.

When was Principles of Phonology made into a movie?

I'm not sure.

What is de Courtenay considered to have founded?

I'm not sure.

What school was de Courtenay a member of?

I'm not sure.

What was de Courtenay's title?

I'm not sure.


In 1968 Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle published The Sound Pattern of English (SPE), the basis for generative phonology. In this view, phonological representations are sequences of segments made up of distinctive features. These features were an expansion of earlier work by Roman Jakobson, Gunnar Fant, and Morris Halle. The features describe aspects of articulation and perception, are from a universally fixed set, and have the binary values + or −. There are at least two levels of representation: underlying representation and surface phonetic representation. Ordered phonological rules govern how underlying representation is transformed into the actual pronunciation (the so-called surface form). An important consequence of the influence SPE had on phonological theory was the downplaying of the syllable and the emphasis on segments. Furthermore, the generativists folded morphophonology into phonology, which both solved and created problems.

When was The Sound Pattern of English published?

Other than Chomsky who else published The Sound Pattern of English?

Morris Halle

Besides the syllable what was downplayed as a result of SPE's influence on phonological theory?

emphasis on segments

What other discipline was combined with phonology by the generativists?

morphophonology

When were expansion rules published?

I'm not sure.

Other than Chornsky who else published expansion rules?

I'm not sure.

Besides the syllable what was downplayed as a result of SPE's influence on expansion rules?

I'm not sure.

What other discipline was combined with expansion by the generativists?

I'm not sure.

What are from a universally important syllable?

I'm not sure.


Natural phonology is a theory based on the publications of its proponent David Stampe in 1969 and (more explicitly) in 1979. In this view, phonology is based on a set of universal phonological processes that interact with one another; which ones are active and which are suppressed is language-specific. Rather than acting on segments, phonological processes act on distinctive features within prosodic groups. Prosodic groups can be as small as a part of a syllable or as large as an entire utterance. Phonological processes are unordered with respect to each other and apply simultaneously (though the output of one process may be the input to another). The second most prominent natural phonologist is Patricia Donegan (Stampe's wife); there are many natural phonologists in Europe, and a few in the U.S., such as Geoffrey Nathan. The principles of natural phonology were extended to morphology by Wolfgang U. Dressler, who founded natural morphology.

Whose publications started the theory of Natural phonology?

David Stampe

According to Stampe what is phonology based on?

a set of universal phonological processes

Aside from being active what other condition can the universal phonological processes exist in?

suppressed

Who is the number two natural phonologist?

Patricia Donegan

Who was the founder of natural morphology?

Wolfgang U. Dressler

Whose publications started the theory of universal input?

I'm not sure.

According to Stampe what is universal input based on?

I'm not sure.

Aside from being active what other condition can the natural morphology exist in?

I'm not sure.

Who is the number two universal processor?

I'm not sure.

Who was the founder of active utterance?

I'm not sure.


In 1976 John Goldsmith introduced autosegmental phonology. Phonological phenomena are no longer seen as operating on one linear sequence of segments, called phonemes or feature combinations, but rather as involving some parallel sequences of features which reside on multiple tiers. Autosegmental phonology later evolved into feature geometry, which became the standard theory of representation for theories of the organization of phonology as different as lexical phonology and optimality theory.

Who founded autosegmental phonology?

John Goldsmith

When did John Goldsmith share his work?

What did Autosegmental phonology morph into?

feature geometry

Who founded operating tiers?

I'm not sure.

When did John Goldsmith publish his work?

I'm not sure.

What did operating tiers morph into?

I'm not sure.

What are no longer seen as operating on lexical phonology?

I'm not sure.

What became the standard theory of phenomes?

I'm not sure.


Government phonology, which originated in the early 1980s as an attempt to unify theoretical notions of syntactic and phonological structures, is based on the notion that all languages necessarily follow a small set of principles and vary according to their selection of certain binary parameters. That is, all languages' phonological structures are essentially the same, but there is restricted variation that accounts for differences in surface realizations. Principles are held to be inviolable, though parameters may sometimes come into conflict. Prominent figures in this field include Jonathan Kaye, Jean Lowenstamm, Jean-Roger Vergnaud, Monik Charette, and John Harris.

When was Government phonology first seen?

the early 1980s

Jonathan Kaye is an important person in what form of phonology?

Government

What is responsible for differences in surface realizations according to Government phonology?

restricted variation

When were government principles first seen?

I'm not sure.

Jonathan Kaye is an important person in what form of conflict?

I'm not sure.

What is responsible for differences in surface realizations according to government conflict?

I'm not sure.

What vary according to their selection of government?

I'm not sure.

What is true of all languages' field parameters?

I'm not sure.


In a course at the LSA summer institute in 1991, Alan Prince and Paul Smolensky developed optimality theory—an overall architecture for phonology according to which languages choose a pronunciation of a word that best satisfies a list of constraints ordered by importance; a lower-ranked constraint can be violated when the violation is necessary in order to obey a higher-ranked constraint. The approach was soon extended to morphology by John McCarthy and Alan Prince, and has become a dominant trend in phonology. The appeal to phonetic grounding of constraints and representational elements (e.g. features) in various approaches has been criticized by proponents of 'substance-free phonology', especially Mark Hale and Charles Reiss.

When did Prince and Smolensky develop their theory?

Where was optimality theory created?

LSA summer institute

Aside from Alan Prince who brought optimality theory to morphology?

John McCarthy

Who were prominent critics of optimality theory?

Mark Hale and Charles Reiss

When did Prince and Smolensky develop pronunciation?

I'm not sure.

Where was dominant theory created?

I'm not sure.

Aside from Alan Prince who brought dominant theory to morphology?

I'm not sure.

Who were prominent critics of dominant theory?

I'm not sure.

Who are proponents of dominant phonology?

I'm not sure.


Broadly speaking, government phonology (or its descendant, strict-CV phonology) has a greater following in the United Kingdom, whereas optimality theory is predominant in the United States.[citation needed]

What followed government phonology?

strict-CV phonology

Where is government phonology popular?

the United Kingdom,

What theory is seen more in the US?

optimality theory

What followed government optimality?

I'm not sure.

Where is descendant phonology popular?

I'm not sure.

What government idea is seen more in the UK?

I'm not sure.

What has a greater following in France?

I'm not sure.

What began in the United States?

I'm not sure.


An integrated approach to phonological theory that combines synchronic and diachronic accounts to sound patterns was initiated with Evolutionary Phonology in recent years.

What is Evolutionary Phonology an integrated approach to?

phonological theory

What is combined to sound patterns by Evolutionary Phonology?

synchronic and diachronic accounts

When did Evolutionary Phonology come into being?

recent years.

What sort of approach did Evolutionary Phonology take?

integrated

What is recent diachronic an integrated approach to?

I'm not sure.

What is combined to sound patterns by recent patterns?

I'm not sure.

When did  diachronic come into being?

I'm not sure.

What sort of approach did recent diachronic take?

I'm not sure.

What was initiated with sound accounts?

I'm not sure.


An important part of traditional, pre-generative schools of phonology is studying which sounds can be grouped into distinctive units within a language; these units are known as phonemes. For example, in English, the "p" sound in pot is aspirated (pronounced [pʰ]) while that in spot is not aspirated (pronounced [p]). However, English speakers intuitively treat both sounds as variations (allophones) of the same phonological category, that is of the phoneme /p/. (Traditionally, it would be argued that if an aspirated [pʰ] were interchanged with the unaspirated [p] in spot, native speakers of English would still hear the same words; that is, the two sounds are perceived as "the same" /p/.) In some other languages, however, these two sounds are perceived as different, and they are consequently assigned to different phonemes. For example, in Thai, Hindi, and Quechua, there are minimal pairs of words for which aspiration is the only contrasting feature (two words can have different meanings but with the only difference in pronunciation being that one has an aspirated sound where the other has an unaspirated one).

What are the units called that traditional phonology studies?

phonemes

What is another word for variations?

allophones

What is the opposite of aspirated?

unaspirated

What are the minimal pairs called that minimal phonology studies?

I'm not sure.

What is another word for phoneme?

I'm not sure.

What is the opposite of phoneme?

I'm not sure.

In what languages are there minimal pairs of words for which allophones are the only contrasting feature?

I'm not sure.

Which speakers treat both sounds as aspirations?

I'm not sure.


Part of the phonological study of a language therefore involves looking at data (phonetic transcriptions of the speech of native speakers) and trying to deduce what the underlying phonemes are and what the sound inventory of the language is. The presence or absence of minimal pairs, as mentioned above, is a frequently used criterion for deciding whether two sounds should be assigned to the same phoneme. However, other considerations often need to be taken into account as well.

What type of language study involves trying to deduce underlying phonomes?

phonological

Aside from finding out what underlying phonemes are there what does the phonological study of a language try to find out about the language?

sound inventory

What kind of speaker data does studying a language phonologically involve examining?

native

What type of language study involves trying to deduce transcriptions?

I'm not sure.

Aside from finding out what underlying phonemes are there what does the phnological study of a language tray to find out about minimal pairs?

I'm not sure.

What kind of transcription data does studying a language phonologically involve examining?

I'm not sure.

What is a frequently used criterion for deciding whether two languages should be assigned to the same phoneme?

I'm not sure.

What does part of the assigned transcription of a language involve?

I'm not sure.


The particular contrasts which are phonemic in a language can change over time. At one time, [f] and [v], two sounds that have the same place and manner of articulation and differ in voicing only, were allophones of the same phoneme in English, but later came to belong to separate phonemes. This is one of the main factors of historical change of languages as described in historical linguistics.

What kind of linguistics describes how factors of languages change in history?

historical

With the passage of time what particular things phonemic in a language are known to change?

contrasts

In the past sounds that now belong to separate phonemes were allophones of what kind of phoneme in English?

the same phoneme

What kind of linguistics describes how factors of phenomes change in history?

I'm not sure.

With the passage of phenomes what particular things phonemic in a language are known to change?

I'm not sure.

In the past sounds that now belong to separate phenomes were allophones of what kind  of change in English?

I'm not sure.

What cannot change over time?

I'm not sure.

Where is historical change of time described?

I'm not sure.


The findings and insights of speech perception and articulation research complicate the traditional and somewhat intuitive idea of interchangeable allophones being perceived as the same phoneme. First, interchanged allophones of the same phoneme can result in unrecognizable words. Second, actual speech, even at a word level, is highly co-articulated, so it is problematic to expect to be able to splice words into simple segments without affecting speech perception.

How do speech perception and articulation findings and insights affect previous and more traditional ideas?

complicate

How does interchanging allophones of the same pheneme render words?

unrecognizable

What does splicing words affect?

speech perception

How do speech perception and articulation findings and insights affect previous and more traditional spliced words?

I'm not sure.

How does interchanging phenomes of the same allophone render words?

I'm not sure.

What does splicing phenomes affect?

I'm not sure.

What can result in recognizable words?

I'm not sure.

What complicates the traditional ideas of phonemes being perceived as the same allophones?

I'm not sure.


Different linguists therefore take different approaches to the problem of assigning sounds to phonemes. For example, they differ in the extent to which they require allophones to be phonetically similar. There are also differing ideas as to whether this grouping of sounds is purely a tool for linguistic analysis, or reflects an actual process in the way the human brain processes a language.

What are assigned to phonemes by different linguists?

sounds

What part of a human does language processing?

brain

The phonetical similarity of what thing causes disagreements between linguists?

allophones

What are assigned to phonemes by different languages?

I'm not sure.

What part of a human does allophone processing?

I'm not sure.

The phonetical similarity of what thing causes disagreements between phenomes?

I'm not sure.

Who takes different approaches to the problem of assigning sounds to allophones?

I'm not sure.

Who differs in the extent to which they requires phonemes to be phonetically similar?

I'm not sure.


Since the early 1960s, theoretical linguists have moved away from the traditional concept of a phoneme, preferring to consider basic units at a more abstract level, as a component of morphemes; these units can be called morphophonemes, and analysis using this approach is called morphophonology.

When did theoretical linguists turn away traditional phoneme concepts?

early 1960s

On what level do theoretical linguists consider basic units?

abstract

What is a name for the basic morpheme unit?

morphophonemes

What is the act of analyzing morphophones called?

morphophonology

What kind of linguists are leaving the old methods behind?

theoretical

When did theoretical linguists turn away traditioinal analysis concepts?

I'm not sure.

On what level do theoretical linguists consider basic approaches?

I'm not sure.

What is a name for the basic phoneme unit?

I'm not sure.

What kind of linguists are leaving the old phonemes behind?

I'm not sure.

When did theoretical linguists move away from the traditional concept of a morpheme?

I'm not sure.


In addition to the minimal units that can serve the purpose of differentiating meaning (the phonemes), phonology studies how sounds alternate, i.e. replace one another in different forms of the same morpheme (allomorphs), as well as, for example, syllable structure, stress, feature geometry, accent, and intonation.

What do phonemes differentiate?

meaning

Aside from phonemes what is studied by phonology?

how sounds alternate

The study of syllable structure is part of what discipline?

phonology

What do allomorphs differentiate?

I'm not sure.

Aside from phonemes what is studies by geometry?

I'm not sure.

The study of accent structure is part of what discipline?

I'm not sure.

What studies how geometry alternates?

I'm not sure.

What is another name for syllable?

I'm not sure.


Phonology also includes topics such as phonotactics (the phonological constraints on what sounds can appear in what positions in a given language) and phonological alternation (how the pronunciation of a sound changes through the application of phonological rules, sometimes in a given order which can be feeding or bleeding,) as well as prosody, the study of suprasegmentals and topics such as stress and intonation.

Under what topic is suprasegmentals studied?

prosody

Aside from bleeding what is an order of rules that define how pronunciation of a sound changes?

feeding

Phonotactics, phonological alternation and prosody are topics contained in what discipline?

Phonology

Stress and intonation are studied under what topic?

prosody

Under what topic is phonological alternation studied?

I'm not sure.

Aside from bleeding what is an order of rules that define how suprasegmentals change?

I'm not sure.

Phonotactics, phonological alternation and stress are topics contained in what discipline?

I'm not sure.

Stress and rules are studied under what topic?

I'm not sure.

What includes topics such as sound rules?

I'm not sure.


The principles of phonological analysis can be applied independently of modality because they are designed to serve as general analytical tools, not language-specific ones. The same principles have been applied to the analysis of sign languages (see Phonemes in sign languages), even though the sub-lexical units are not instantiated as speech sounds.

Instead of being language-specific what kind of tools are the principles of phonological analysis designed to be?

general analytical tools

What other types of language have the phonological analysis principles been applied to?

sign languages

What are the principles of phonological analysis able to be applied separately from?

modality

In sign languages what are not represented as instances of speech sounds?

sub-lexical units

Instead of being language specific what kind of tool is sign language designed to be?

I'm not sure.

What other types of language have the speech sound principles been applied to

I'm not sure.

What are the principles of sign language able to be applied separately from?

I'm not sure.

In sign laguages what are not represented as instances of analytical tools?

I'm not sure.

What can be applied depending on modality?

I'm not sure.


Conventionally, a computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a central processing unit (CPU), and some form of memory. The processing element carries out arithmetic and logic operations, and a sequencing and control unit can change the order of operations in response to stored information. Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved from an external source, and the result of operations saved and retrieved.

In computer terms, what does CPU stand for?

central processing unit

What are the devices called that are from an external source?

Peripheral devices

What are two things that a computer always has?

(CPU), and some form of memory


Mechanical analog computers started appearing in the first century and were later used in the medieval era for astronomical calculations. In World War II, mechanical analog computers were used for specialized military applications such as calculating torpedo aiming. During this time the first electronic digital computers were developed. Originally they were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs).

What were analog computers originally used for?

astronomical calculations

During what war were computers first used for military applications?

World War II,

In computer terms, what does PC stand for?

personal computers

During what war were the first digital computers invented?

World War II


Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Computers are small enough to fit into mobile devices, and mobile computers can be powered by small batteries. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are generally considered as "computers". However, the embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from electronic toys to industrial robots are the most numerous.

Computers in today's age are based on what that make them much faster than earlier computers?

integrated circuits

How much more powerful are modern computers versus early computers?

millions to billions of times


The first known use of the word "computer" was in 1613 in a book called The Yong Mans Gleanings by English writer Richard Braithwait: "I haue read the truest computer of Times, and the best Arithmetician that euer breathed, and he reduceth thy dayes into a short number." It referred to a person who carried out calculations, or computations. The word continued with the same meaning until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, a machine that carries out computations.

When was the first known use of the word "computer"?

In which book, was the term "computer" first used?

The Yong Mans Gleanings

Who was the author of the book, The Yong Mans Gleanings?

Richard Braithwait

From the end of what century, did the word "computer" take its well known meaning of today?

19th century


Devices have been used to aid computation for thousands of years, mostly using one-to-one correspondence with fingers. The earliest counting device was probably a form of tally stick. Later record keeping aids throughout the Fertile Crescent included calculi (clay spheres, cones, etc.) which represented counts of items, probably livestock or grains, sealed in hollow unbaked clay containers. The use of counting rods is one example.

The earliest device to help count was what?

a form of tally stick

Calculi during the Fertile Crescent refers to what?

(clay spheres, cones, etc.)


The abacus was initially used for arithmetic tasks. The Roman abacus was used in Babylonia as early as 2400 BC. Since then, many other forms of reckoning boards or tables have been invented. In a medieval European counting house, a checkered cloth would be placed on a table, and markers moved around on it according to certain rules, as an aid to calculating sums of money.

What was the abacus first used for?

arithmetic tasks

When was the Roman abacus first used?

2400 BC

Where was the Roman abacus first used?

Babylonia

In medieval Europe was was placed on a table to help count money?

a checkered cloth

A checkered cloth on a table was used in medieval Europe to help count what?

sums of money


The Antikythera mechanism is believed to be the earliest mechanical analog "computer", according to Derek J. de Solla Price. It was designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was discovered in 1901 in the Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, and has been dated to circa 100 BC. Devices of a level of complexity comparable to that of the Antikythera mechanism would not reappear until a thousand years later.

What is thought to be the first mechanical analog computer?

The Antikythera mechanism

The Antikythera mechanism was thought to be the first computer according to whom?

Derek J. de Solla Price.

When was the Antikythera mechanism discovered?

Where was the Antikythera mechanism found in 1901?

Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera

Where is the Greek Island of Antikythera located between?

Kythera and Crete


Many mechanical aids to calculation and measurement were constructed for astronomical and navigation use. The planisphere was a star chart invented by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī in the early 11th century. The astrolabe was invented in the Hellenistic world in either the 1st or 2nd centuries BC and is often attributed to Hipparchus. A combination of the planisphere and dioptra, the astrolabe was effectively an analog computer capable of working out several different kinds of problems in spherical astronomy. An astrolabe incorporating a mechanical calendar computer and gear-wheels was invented by Abi Bakr of Isfahan, Persia in 1235. Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī invented the first mechanical geared lunisolar calendar astrolabe, an early fixed-wired knowledge processing machine with a gear train and gear-wheels, circa 1000 AD.

Who invented the planisphere?

Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī

Who is thought to have invented the astrolabe in history?

Hipparchus

The astrolabe was a combination of what two devices in history?

the planisphere and dioptra

The first astrolabe with gear-wheels was invented when?

The first astrolabe with a mechanical calendar was invented where?

Persia


The sector, a calculating instrument used for solving problems in proportion, trigonometry, multiplication and division, and for various functions, such as squares and cube roots, was developed in the late 16th century and found application in gunnery, surveying and navigation.

The sector, a calculating instrument, was invented during what century?

16th century


The slide rule was invented around 1620–1630, shortly after the publication of the concept of the logarithm. It is a hand-operated analog computer for doing multiplication and division. As slide rule development progressed, added scales provided reciprocals, squares and square roots, cubes and cube roots, as well as transcendental functions such as logarithms and exponentials, circular and hyperbolic trigonometry and other functions. Aviation is one of the few fields where slide rules are still in widespread use, particularly for solving time–distance problems in light aircraft. To save space and for ease of reading, these are typically circular devices rather than the classic linear slide rule shape. A popular example is the E6B.

When was the slide rule first invented?

What is the slide rule used for?

doing multiplication and division.

What industry are slide rules still used today?

Aviation


In the 1770s Pierre Jaquet-Droz, a Swiss watchmaker, built a mechanical doll (automata) that could write holding a quill pen. By switching the number and order of its internal wheels different letters, and hence different messages, could be produced. In effect, it could be mechanically "programmed" to read instructions. Along with two other complex machines, the doll is at the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and still operates.

What was the profession of Pierre Jaquet-Droz?

a Swiss watchmaker

When did Pierre Jaquet-Droz build a mechanical doll that could hold a pen?

In the 1770s

Where is the doll Pierre Jaquet-Droz built today?

Musée d'Art et d'Histoire

Where is the Musee d-Art et d'Histoire located?

Neuchâtel, Switzerland


The tide-predicting machine invented by Sir William Thomson in 1872 was of great utility to navigation in shallow waters. It used a system of pulleys and wires to automatically calculate predicted tide levels for a set period at a particular location.

When was the tide-predicting machine invented by Sir William Thomson invented?

Who invented the first tide-predicting machine in 1872?

Sir William Thomson

What did Sir William Thomson's tide-predicting machine use to function?

system of pulleys and wires


The differential analyser, a mechanical analog computer designed to solve differential equations by integration, used wheel-and-disc mechanisms to perform the integration. In 1876 Lord Kelvin had already discussed the possible construction of such calculators, but he had been stymied by the limited output torque of the ball-and-disk integrators. In a differential analyzer, the output of one integrator drove the input of the next integrator, or a graphing output. The torque amplifier was the advance that allowed these machines to work. Starting in the 1920s, Vannevar Bush and others developed mechanical differential analyzers.

What type of mechanisms did the differential analyzer use?

wheel-and-disc

In 1876 who lobbied for the construction of the differential analyzers?

Lord Kelvin

During what decade were mechanical differential analyzers developed?

In the 1920s, who was the person who developed mechanical differential analyzers?

Vannevar Bush


Charles Babbage, an English mechanical engineer and polymath, originated the concept of a programmable computer. Considered the "father of the computer", he conceptualized and invented the first mechanical computer in the early 19th century. After working on his revolutionary difference engine, designed to aid in navigational calculations, in 1833 he realized that a much more general design, an Analytical Engine, was possible. The input of programs and data was to be provided to the machine via punched cards, a method being used at the time to direct mechanical looms such as the Jacquard loom. For output, the machine would have a printer, a curve plotter and a bell. The machine would also be able to punch numbers onto cards to be read in later. The Engine incorporated an arithmetic logic unit, control flow in the form of conditional branching and loops, and integrated memory, making it the first design for a general-purpose computer that could be described in modern terms as Turing-complete.

Who invented the concept of a programmable computer?

Charles Babbage

Who is considered the "father of the computer"?

Charles Babbage

During what century was the first mechanical computer invented by Charles Babbage?

early 19th century

What year did Charles Babbage find out that An Analytical Engine was possible?


The machine was about a century ahead of its time. All the parts for his machine had to be made by hand — this was a major problem for a device with thousands of parts. Eventually, the project was dissolved with the decision of the British Government to cease funding. Babbage's failure to complete the analytical engine can be chiefly attributed to difficulties not only of politics and financing, but also to his desire to develop an increasingly sophisticated computer and to move ahead faster than anyone else could follow. Nevertheless, his son, Henry Babbage, completed a simplified version of the analytical engine's computing unit (the mill) in 1888. He gave a successful demonstration of its use in computing tables in 1906.

Who was Charles Babbage's son?

Henry Babbage

Who created a simple version of the analytical engine's computing unit?

Henry Babbage

When was the mill created by Henry Babbage?

When was a demonstration by Henry Babbage of the mill given?


The first modern analog computer was a tide-predicting machine, invented by Sir William Thomson in 1872. The differential analyser, a mechanical analog computer designed to solve differential equations by integration using wheel-and-disc mechanisms, was conceptualized in 1876 by James Thomson, the brother of the more famous Lord Kelvin.

Who invented the first analog computer in the form of a tide-predicting machine?

Sir William Thomson

When was the first analog computer in the form of a tide-predicting machine created?

Who created the idea of the differential analyzer in 1876?

James Thomson

James Thomson was the brother of what famous figure?

Lord Kelvin


The art of mechanical analog computing reached its zenith with the differential analyzer, built by H. L. Hazen and Vannevar Bush at MIT starting in 1927. This built on the mechanical integrators of James Thomson and the torque amplifiers invented by H. W. Nieman. A dozen of these devices were built before their obsolescence became obvious.

Where was the differential analyzer built by H.L. Hazen?

MIT

The differential analyzer by H.L. Hazen and Vannevar Bush was first being built in what year?

The torque amplifiers of the differential analyzer were created by whom?

H. W. Nieman


By the 1950s the success of digital electronic computers had spelled the end for most analog computing machines, but analog computers remain in use in some specialized applications such as education (control systems) and aircraft (slide rule).

By what decade were analog computing devices rendered obsolete?

Analog computers remain in use in what industries?

education (control systems) and aircraft (slide rule).


The principle of the modern computer was first described by mathematician and pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing, who set out the idea in his seminal 1936 paper, On Computable Numbers. Turing reformulated Kurt Gödel's 1931 results on the limits of proof and computation, replacing Gödel's universal arithmetic-based formal language with the formal and simple hypothetical devices that became known as Turing machines. He proved that some such machine would be capable of performing any conceivable mathematical computation if it were representable as an algorithm. He went on to prove that there was no solution to the Entscheidungsproblem by first showing that the halting problem for Turing machines is undecidable: in general, it is not possible to decide algorithmically whether a given Turing machine will ever halt.

Who wrote the paper "On Computable Numbers"?

Alan Turing

When did Alan Turing write the paper, "On Computable Numbers"?

Who did Turing revise the results on the limits of proof and computation in 1931?

Kurt Gödel


He also introduced the notion of a 'Universal Machine' (now known as a Universal Turing machine), with the idea that such a machine could perform the tasks of any other machine, or in other words, it is provably capable of computing anything that is computable by executing a program stored on tape, allowing the machine to be programmable. Von Neumann acknowledged that the central concept of the modern computer was due to this paper. Turing machines are to this day a central object of study in theory of computation. Except for the limitations imposed by their finite memory stores, modern computers are said to be Turing-complete, which is to say, they have algorithm execution capability equivalent to a universal Turing machine.

A Universal Machine is known as what today?

Universal Turing machine


By 1938 the United States Navy had developed an electromechanical analog computer small enough to use aboard a submarine. This was the Torpedo Data Computer, which used trigonometry to solve the problem of firing a torpedo at a moving target. During World War II similar devices were developed in other countries as well.

What part of the US military developed an electromechanical analog computer to use on a submarine?

the United States Navy

When did the US Navy invent an electromechanical computer to use on a submarine?

What type of math did the Torpedo Data computer use to fire a torpedo at a moving target?

trigonometry


Early digital computers were electromechanical; electric switches drove mechanical relays to perform the calculation. These devices had a low operating speed and were eventually superseded by much faster all-electric computers, originally using vacuum tubes. The Z2, created by German engineer Konrad Zuse in 1939, was one of the earliest examples of an electromechanical relay computer.

Who created the relay computer, the Z2?

Konrad Zuse

When did Konrad Zuse invent the Z2?

What is one of the first electromechanical relay computers?

The Z2

Konrad Zuse was an engineer with what nationality?

German


In 1941, Zuse followed his earlier machine up with the Z3, the world's first working electromechanical programmable, fully automatic digital computer. The Z3 was built with 2000 relays, implementing a 22 bit word length that operated at a clock frequency of about 5–10 Hz. Program code was supplied on punched film while data could be stored in 64 words of memory or supplied from the keyboard. It was quite similar to modern machines in some respects, pioneering numerous advances such as floating point numbers. Replacement of the hard-to-implement decimal system (used in Charles Babbage's earlier design) by the simpler binary system meant that Zuse's machines were easier to build and potentially more reliable, given the technologies available at that time. The Z3 was Turing complete.

When did Konrad Zuse create the Z3 computer?

What was the first automatic, digital, programmable computer created by Konrad Zuse?

the Z3

How many relays did the Z3 contain?

What did the Z3 operate for a clock frequency?

about 5–10 Hz

How many words of memory could be stored with the Z3?


Purely electronic circuit elements soon replaced their mechanical and electromechanical equivalents, at the same time that digital calculation replaced analog. The engineer Tommy Flowers, working at the Post Office Research Station in London in the 1930s, began to explore the possible use of electronics for the telephone exchange. Experimental equipment that he built in 1934 went into operation 5 years later, converting a portion of the telephone exchange network into an electronic data processing system, using thousands of vacuum tubes. In the US, John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford E. Berry of Iowa State University developed and tested the Atanasoff–Berry Computer (ABC) in 1942, the first "automatic electronic digital computer". This design was also all-electronic and used about 300 vacuum tubes, with capacitors fixed in a mechanically rotating drum for memory.

Where did the engineer Tommy Flowers work at during the 1930s?

Post Office Research Station

In what city did Tommy Flowers work in the 1930s?

London

The Atanasoff-Berry computer was invented in what year?

How many vacuum tubes did the Atanasoff-Berry computer use?

about 300

At what school did John Vincent Atansoff and Clifford E. Berry work?

Iowa State University


During World War II, the British at Bletchley Park achieved a number of successes at breaking encrypted German military communications. The German encryption machine, Enigma, was first attacked with the help of the electro-mechanical bombes. To crack the more sophisticated German Lorenz SZ 40/42 machine, used for high-level Army communications, Max Newman and his colleagues commissioned Flowers to build the Colossus. He spent eleven months from early February 1943 designing and building the first Colossus. After a functional test in December 1943, Colossus was shipped to Bletchley Park, where it was delivered on 18 January 1944 and attacked its first message on 5 February.

Who built the first Colossus in 1943?

Flowers

When was the Colossus sent to Bletchley Park?

18 January 1944

Who achieved success at cracking secret German military communications during World War II?

, the British

Where did the British crack secret German military communications during World War II?

Bletchley Park


Colossus was the world's first electronic digital programmable computer. It used a large number of valves (vacuum tubes). It had paper-tape input and was capable of being configured to perform a variety of boolean logical operations on its data, but it was not Turing-complete. Nine Mk II Colossi were built (The Mk I was converted to a Mk II making ten machines in total). Colossus Mark I contained 1500 thermionic valves (tubes), but Mark II with 2400 valves, was both 5 times faster and simpler to operate than Mark 1, greatly speeding the decoding process.

What was the first electronic digital programmable computer in the world?

Colossus

How many vacuum tubes did the Colossus Mark I contain?

1500 thermionic valves (tubes)

How many tubes did Colossus Mark II contain?


The US-built ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first electronic programmable computer built in the US. Although the ENIAC was similar to the Colossus it was much faster and more flexible. It was unambiguously a Turing-complete device and could compute any problem that would fit into its memory. Like the Colossus, a "program" on the ENIAC was defined by the states of its patch cables and switches, a far cry from the stored program electronic machines that came later. Once a program was written, it had to be mechanically set into the machine with manual resetting of plugs and switches.

The US-buils ENIAC stands for what?

Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

What was the first electronic programmable computer built in the United States?

ENIAC


It combined the high speed of electronics with the ability to be programmed for many complex problems. It could add or subtract 5000 times a second, a thousand times faster than any other machine. It also had modules to multiply, divide, and square root. High speed memory was limited to 20 words (about 80 bytes). Built under the direction of John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania, ENIAC's development and construction lasted from 1943 to full operation at the end of 1945. The machine was huge, weighing 30 tons, using 200 kilowatts of electric power and contained over 18,000 vacuum tubes, 1,500 relays, and hundreds of thousands of resistors, capacitors, and inductors.

How many times could it add or subtract a second?

What was the limit of its high speed memory?

ENIAC

ENIAC was constructed by whom?

John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert

Where did John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert build the ENIAC?

University of Pennsylvania

When was ENIAC fully operational?


Early computing machines had fixed programs. Changing its function required the re-wiring and re-structuring of the machine. With the proposal of the stored-program computer this changed. A stored-program computer includes by design an instruction set and can store in memory a set of instructions (a program) that details the computation. The theoretical basis for the stored-program computer was laid by Alan Turing in his 1936 paper. In 1945 Turing joined the National Physical Laboratory and began work on developing an electronic stored-program digital computer. His 1945 report ‘Proposed Electronic Calculator’ was the first specification for such a device. John von Neumann at the University of Pennsylvania, also circulated his First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC in 1945.

The basis for the stored-program computer was written by whom?

Alan Turing

When did Alan Turing write his paper about the basis for the stored-program computer?

When did Alan Turing join the National Physical Laboratory?

The first outline for the report on the EDVAC was released by John von Neumann when?

Where did John von Neumann circulate the first draft of a report on the EDVAC?

University of Pennsylvania


The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, nicknamed Baby, was the world's first stored-program computer. It was built at the Victoria University of Manchester by Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill, and ran its first program on 21 June 1948. It was designed as a testbed for the Williams tube the first random-access digital storage device. Although the computer was considered "small and primitive" by the standards of its time, it was the first working machine to contain all of the elements essential to a modern electronic computer. As soon as the SSEM had demonstrated the feasibility of its design, a project was initiated at the university to develop it into a more usable computer, the Manchester Mark 1.

What was the nickname of the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine?

Baby

What was the first stored-program computer in the world?

The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine

Where was the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine built?

Victoria University of Manchester

Who built the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine?

Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill

When did the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine run its first program?

21 June 1948


The Mark 1 in turn quickly became the prototype for the Ferranti Mark 1, the world's first commercially available general-purpose computer. Built by Ferranti, it was delivered to the University of Manchester in February 1951. At least seven of these later machines were delivered between 1953 and 1957, one of them to Shell labs in Amsterdam. In October 1947, the directors of British catering company J. Lyons & Company decided to take an active role in promoting the commercial development of computers. The LEO I computer became operational in April 1951  and ran the world's first regular routine office computer job.

What was the prototype for the Ferranti Mark 1?

The Mark 1

What was the first available computer for the public?

Ferranti Mark 1

When was the Ferranti Mark 1 built?

Where was the Ferranti Mark 1 sent to after it was developed?

University of Manchester

When was the LEO 1 computer first operational?

April 1951


The bipolar transistor was invented in 1947. From 1955 onwards transistors replaced vacuum tubes in computer designs, giving rise to the "second generation" of computers. Compared to vacuum tubes, transistors have many advantages: they are smaller, and require less power than vacuum tubes, so give off less heat. Silicon junction transistors were much more reliable than vacuum tubes and had longer, indefinite, service life. Transistorized computers could contain tens of thousands of binary logic circuits in a relatively compact space.

When was the bipolar transistor created?

When did transistors start replacing vacuum tubes in computers?


At the University of Manchester, a team under the leadership of Tom Kilburn designed and built a machine using the newly developed transistors instead of valves. Their first transistorised computer and the first in the world, was operational by 1953, and a second version was completed there in April 1955. However, the machine did make use of valves to generate its 125 kHz clock waveforms and in the circuitry to read and write on its magnetic drum memory, so it was not the first completely transistorized computer. That distinction goes to the Harwell CADET of 1955, built by the electronics division of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell.

At the University of Manchester, who oversaw the building of a computer using transistors instead of valves?

Tom Kilburn

The first transistorised computer was operational in what year?

What did the machine use to generate its clock waveforms?

valves

Who built the Harwell CADET?

electronics division of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell

In what year was the Harwell CADET built?


The next great advance in computing power came with the advent of the integrated circuit. The idea of the integrated circuit was first conceived by a radar scientist working for the Royal Radar Establishment of the Ministry of Defence, Geoffrey W.A. Dummer. Dummer presented the first public description of an integrated circuit at the Symposium on Progress in Quality Electronic Components in Washington, D.C. on 7 May 1952.

The integrated circuit of a computer was the idea of whom?

Geoffrey W.A. Dummer

Where did Geoffrey W.A. Dummer work at?

Royal Radar Establishment of the Ministry of Defence


The first practical ICs were invented by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor. Kilby recorded his initial ideas concerning the integrated circuit in July 1958, successfully demonstrating the first working integrated example on 12 September 1958. In his patent application of 6 February 1959, Kilby described his new device as "a body of semiconductor material ... wherein all the components of the electronic circuit are completely integrated". Noyce also came up with his own idea of an integrated circuit half a year later than Kilby. His chip solved many practical problems that Kilby's had not. Produced at Fairchild Semiconductor, it was made of silicon, whereas Kilby's chip was made of germanium.

Where created the first practical integrated circuits?

Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor.

Where did Jack Kilby work at when he created the first IC?

Texas Instruments

When was the first functional IC demonstrated?

12 September 1958.

What was Kilby's IC made of?

germanium

Noyce's IC was made up of what material?

silicon


This new development heralded an explosion in the commercial and personal use of computers and led to the invention of the microprocessor. While the subject of exactly which device was the first microprocessor is contentious, partly due to lack of agreement on the exact definition of the term "microprocessor", it is largely undisputed that the first single-chip microprocessor was the Intel 4004, designed and realized by Ted Hoff, Federico Faggin, and Stanley Mazor at Intel.

What was the name of the first single-chip microprocessor?

Intel 4004

Who created the Intel 4004 microprocessor?

Ted Hoff, Federico Faggin, and Stanley Mazor

Where did Ted Hoff, Federico Faggin, and Stanley Mazor work at?

Intel.


With the continued miniaturization of computing resources, and advancements in portable battery life, portable computers grew in popularity in the 2000s. The same developments that spurred the growth of laptop computers and other portable computers allowed manufacturers to integrate computing resources into cellular phones. These so-called smartphones and tablets run on a variety of operating systems and have become the dominant computing device on the market, with manufacturers reporting having shipped an estimated 237 million devices in 2Q 2013.

Computing resources that are created in cell phones are called what?

smartphones

How many tablets were sold in 2Q 2013?

237 million devices


In practical terms, a computer program may be just a few instructions or extend to many millions of instructions, as do the programs for word processors and web browsers for example. A typical modern computer can execute billions of instructions per second (gigaflops) and rarely makes a mistake over many years of operation. Large computer programs consisting of several million instructions may take teams of programmers years to write, and due to the complexity of the task almost certainly contain errors.

Billions of instructions per second are called what in computer terms?

(gigaflops)


Program execution might be likened to reading a book. While a person will normally read each word and line in sequence, they may at times jump back to an earlier place in the text or skip sections that are not of interest. Similarly, a computer may sometimes go back and repeat the instructions in some section of the program over and over again until some internal condition is met. This is called the flow of control within the program and it is what allows the computer to perform tasks repeatedly without human intervention.

When a computer goes back and repeats instructions of a program over until an internal condition is met is called what?

the flow of control

What allows a computer to perform repetitive tasks without human intervening?

the flow of control


In most computers, individual instructions are stored as machine code with each instruction being given a unique number (its operation code or opcode for short). The command to add two numbers together would have one opcode; the command to multiply them would have a different opcode, and so on. The simplest computers are able to perform any of a handful of different instructions; the more complex computers have several hundred to choose from, each with a unique numerical code. Since the computer's memory is able to store numbers, it can also store the instruction codes. This leads to the important fact that entire programs (which are just lists of these instructions) can be represented as lists of numbers and can themselves be manipulated inside the computer in the same way as numeric data. The fundamental concept of storing programs in the computer's memory alongside the data they operate on is the crux of the von Neumann, or stored program[citation needed], architecture. In some cases, a computer might store some or all of its program in memory that is kept separate from the data it operates on. This is called the Harvard architecture after the Harvard Mark I computer. Modern von Neumann computers display some traits of the Harvard architecture in their designs, such as in CPU caches.

Which computer is the Harvard architecture modeled after?

Harvard Mark I computer

A computer that stores its program in memory and kept separate from the data is called what?

the Harvard architecture


While it is possible to write computer programs as long lists of numbers (machine language) and while this technique was used with many early computers, it is extremely tedious and potentially error-prone to do so in practice, especially for complicated programs. Instead, each basic instruction can be given a short name that is indicative of its function and easy to remember – a mnemonic such as ADD, SUB, MULT or JUMP. These mnemonics are collectively known as a computer's assembly language. Converting programs written in assembly language into something the computer can actually understand (machine language) is usually done by a computer program called an assembler.

A computer's assembly language is known as what?

basic instruction can be given a short name that is indicative of its function

Programs that convert assembly language into machine language are called what?

an assembler.

Computer programs that are long lists of numbers are called what?

machine language


Programming languages provide various ways of specifying programs for computers to run. Unlike natural languages, programming languages are designed to permit no ambiguity and to be concise. They are purely written languages and are often difficult to read aloud. They are generally either translated into machine code by a compiler or an assembler before being run, or translated directly at run time by an interpreter. Sometimes programs are executed by a hybrid method of the two techniques.

Programming languages are translated into machine code by what?

a compiler or an assembler

Programming languages are translated at run time by what?

an interpreter


Machine languages and the assembly languages that represent them (collectively termed low-level programming languages) tend to be unique to a particular type of computer. For instance, an ARM architecture computer (such as may be found in a PDA or a hand-held videogame) cannot understand the machine language of an Intel Pentium or the AMD Athlon 64 computer that might be in a PC.

An ARM architecture computer can be found in what?

a PDA or a hand-held videogame


Though considerably easier than in machine language, writing long programs in assembly language is often difficult and is also error prone. Therefore, most practical programs are written in more abstract high-level programming languages that are able to express the needs of the programmer more conveniently (and thereby help reduce programmer error). High level languages are usually "compiled" into machine language (or sometimes into assembly language and then into machine language) using another computer program called a compiler. High level languages are less related to the workings of the target computer than assembly language, and more related to the language and structure of the problem(s) to be solved by the final program. It is therefore often possible to use different compilers to translate the same high level language program into the machine language of many different types of computer. This is part of the means by which software like video games may be made available for different computer architectures such as personal computers and various video game consoles.

Assembly language that is translated into machine language is done by what type of computer?

a compiler


These 4G languages are less procedural than 3G languages. The benefit of 4GL is that it provides ways to obtain information without requiring the direct help of a programmer. Example of 4GL is SQL.

An example of a 4GL is what?

SQL

What is the pro of 4GL over a 3G language?

provides ways to obtain information without requiring the direct help of a programmer


Errors in computer programs are called "bugs". They may be benign and not affect the usefulness of the program, or have only subtle effects. But in some cases, they may cause the program or the entire system to "hang", becoming unresponsive to input such as mouse clicks or keystrokes, to completely fail, or to crash. Otherwise benign bugs may sometimes be harnessed for malicious intent by an unscrupulous user writing an exploit, code designed to take advantage of a bug and disrupt a computer's proper execution. Bugs are usually not the fault of the computer. Since computers merely execute the instructions they are given, bugs are nearly always the result of programmer error or an oversight made in the program's design.

Another name for errors in programs are called what?

"bugs

Bugs are usually the fault of whom or what?

programmer error or an oversight made in the program's design


Admiral Grace Hopper, an American computer scientist and developer of the first compiler, is credited for having first used the term "bugs" in computing after a dead moth was found shorting a relay in the Harvard Mark II computer in September 1947.

Who was the developer of the first compier?

Admiral Grace Hopper

Who first coined the term "bugs"?

Admiral Grace Hopper

What type of creature shorted a relay of Grace Hopper's computer?

moth

What type of computer of Grace Hopper's was shorted by a moth?

Harvard Mark II

When was Grace Hopper's Hardvard Mark II shorted by a moth?

September 1947


A general purpose computer has four main components: the arithmetic logic unit (ALU), the control unit, the memory, and the input and output devices (collectively termed I/O). These parts are interconnected by buses, often made of groups of wires.

The ALU of a computer stands for what?

arithmetic logic

Input and output devices are known as what term?

I/O

Besides the ALU, input and output devices, what are the other two main components of a computer?

the control unit, the memory


Inside each of these parts are thousands to trillions of small electrical circuits which can be turned off or on by means of an electronic switch. Each circuit represents a bit (binary digit) of information so that when the circuit is on it represents a "1", and when off it represents a "0" (in positive logic representation). The circuits are arranged in logic gates so that one or more of the circuits may control the state of one or more of the other circuits.

A circuit in a computer part represents what?

a bit (binary digit) of information

In positive logic representation a "1" represents when a circuit is what?

on

In positive logic representation a "0" represents when a circuit is what?

off


The control unit (often called a control system or central controller) manages the computer's various components; it reads and interprets (decodes) the program instructions, transforming them into control signals that activate other parts of the computer. Control systems in advanced computers may change the order of execution of some instructions to improve performance.

What are other names for a control unit for a computer?

a control system or central controller)

Reading and interpreting from a control unit is called doing what?

(decodes


A key component common to all CPUs is the program counter, a special memory cell (a register) that keeps track of which location in memory the next instruction is to be read from.

A special memory cell of a CPU is called what?

a register

A register of a CPU keeps track of what?

which location in memory the next instruction is to be read from

What is a component that all CPUs have?

the program counter


Since the program counter is (conceptually) just another set of memory cells, it can be changed by calculations done in the ALU. Adding 100 to the program counter would cause the next instruction to be read from a place 100 locations further down the program. Instructions that modify the program counter are often known as "jumps" and allow for loops (instructions that are repeated by the computer) and often conditional instruction execution (both examples of control flow).

In what part can the program counter be changed by calculations?

the ALU

Instructions that change the program counter are called what?

"jumps"

Loops are defined as what?

instructions that are repeated by the computer)


The sequence of operations that the control unit goes through to process an instruction is in itself like a short computer program, and indeed, in some more complex CPU designs, there is another yet smaller computer called a microsequencer, which runs a microcode program that causes all of these events to happen.

In some CPU designs there is tinier computer called what?

microsequencer

A microsequencer can be found in what other computer component?

CPU


The control unit, ALU, and registers are collectively known as a central processing unit (CPU). Early CPUs were composed of many separate components but since the mid-1970s CPUs have typically been constructed on a single integrated circuit called a microprocessor.

The CPU is an abbreviation for what?

central processing unit

What 3 parts make up the CPU?

The control unit, ALU, and registers

CPUs that are constructed on a single integrated circuit are called what?

a microprocessor

Since when have CPUs been constructed with a microprocessor?


The set of arithmetic operations that a particular ALU supports may be limited to addition and subtraction, or might include multiplication, division, trigonometry functions such as sine, cosine, etc., and square roots. Some can only operate on whole numbers (integers) whilst others use floating point to represent real numbers, albeit with limited precision. However, any computer that is capable of performing just the simplest operations can be programmed to break down the more complex operations into simple steps that it can perform. Therefore, any computer can be programmed to perform any arithmetic operation—although it will take more time to do so if its ALU does not directly support the operation. An ALU may also compare numbers and return boolean truth values (true or false) depending on whether one is equal to, greater than or less than the other ("is 64 greater than 65?").

Some trigonometry functions are what?

sine, cosine,

The term for whole numbers is what?

(integers


Logic operations involve Boolean logic: AND, OR, XOR, and NOT. These can be useful for creating complicated conditional statements and processing boolean logic.

Boolean logic consists of what?

AND, OR, XOR, and NOT


Superscalar computers may contain multiple ALUs, allowing them to process several instructions simultaneously. Graphics processors and computers with SIMD and MIMD features often contain ALUs that can perform arithmetic on vectors and matrices.

Computers that have multiple ALUs are called what?

Superscalar


A computer's memory can be viewed as a list of cells into which numbers can be placed or read. Each cell has a numbered "address" and can store a single number. The computer can be instructed to "put the number 123 into the cell numbered 1357" or to "add the number that is in cell 1357 to the number that is in cell 2468 and put the answer into cell 1595." The information stored in memory may represent practically anything. Letters, numbers, even computer instructions can be placed into memory with equal ease. Since the CPU does not differentiate between different types of information, it is the software's responsibility to give significance to what the memory sees as nothing but a series of numbers.

How many numbers can a cell of a computer's memory hold?

a single number

What is the responsibility of giving significance to what the memory sees as nothing but numbers?

the software's


In almost all modern computers, each memory cell is set up to store binary numbers in groups of eight bits (called a byte). Each byte is able to represent 256 different numbers (28 = 256); either from 0 to 255 or −128 to +127. To store larger numbers, several consecutive bytes may be used (typically, two, four or eight). When negative numbers are required, they are usually stored in two's complement notation. Other arrangements are possible, but are usually not seen outside of specialized applications or historical contexts. A computer can store any kind of information in memory if it can be represented numerically. Modern computers have billions or even trillions of bytes of memory.

A group of 8 bits is called what?

a byte

How many numbers can a byte represent?

256 different numbers

What is the range of the numbers that a byte can represent?

0 to 255 or −128 to +127


The CPU contains a special set of memory cells called registers that can be read and written to much more rapidly than the main memory area. There are typically between two and one hundred registers depending on the type of CPU. Registers are used for the most frequently needed data items to avoid having to access main memory every time data is needed. As data is constantly being worked on, reducing the need to access main memory (which is often slow compared to the ALU and control units) greatly increases the computer's speed.

What part of the computer has memory cells called registers?

The CPU

What is the typical range of registers for a CPU?

two and one hundred registers


RAM can be read and written to anytime the CPU commands it, but ROM is preloaded with data and software that never changes, therefore the CPU can only read from it. ROM is typically used to store the computer's initial start-up instructions. In general, the contents of RAM are erased when the power to the computer is turned off, but ROM retains its data indefinitely. In a PC, the ROM contains a specialized program called the BIOS that orchestrates loading the computer's operating system from the hard disk drive into RAM whenever the computer is turned on or reset. In embedded computers, which frequently do not have disk drives, all of the required software may be stored in ROM. Software stored in ROM is often called firmware, because it is notionally more like hardware than software. Flash memory blurs the distinction between ROM and RAM, as it retains its data when turned off but is also rewritable. It is typically much slower than conventional ROM and RAM however, so its use is restricted to applications where high speed is unnecessary.

What type of memory can a CPU only read from?

ROM

What type of memory can a CPU read and write from?

RAM

What type of memory is always kept and kept the same?

ROM

A progam inside the ROM of a PC is called what?

the BIOS

Software stored in ROM is called what usually?

firmware,


In more sophisticated computers there may be one or more RAM cache memories, which are slower than registers but faster than main memory. Generally computers with this sort of cache are designed to move frequently needed data into the cache automatically, often without the need for any intervention on the programmer's part.

RAM cache memory is slower than what?

registers


I/O is the means by which a computer exchanges information with the outside world. Devices that provide input or output to the computer are called peripherals. On a typical personal computer, peripherals include input devices like the keyboard and mouse, and output devices such as the display and printer. Hard disk drives, floppy disk drives and optical disc drives serve as both input and output devices. Computer networking is another form of I/O.

Devices that give input or output to a computer are called what?

peripherals

A mouse is what type of peripheral device?

input

A printer is what type of peripheral device?

output

Hard disk drives are what type of peripheral device?

input and output

A keyboard is what type of peripheral device?

input


While a computer may be viewed as running one gigantic program stored in its main memory, in some systems it is necessary to give the appearance of running several programs simultaneously. This is achieved by multitasking i.e. having the computer switch rapidly between running each program in turn.

In computer terms, when a computer is switching rapidly between running each program in turn, is called what?

multitasking


One means by which this is done is with a special signal called an interrupt, which can periodically cause the computer to stop executing instructions where it was and do something else instead. By remembering where it was executing prior to the interrupt, the computer can return to that task later. If several programs are running "at the same time". then the interrupt generator might be causing several hundred interrupts per second, causing a program switch each time. Since modern computers typically execute instructions several orders of magnitude faster than human perception, it may appear that many programs are running at the same time even though only one is ever executing in any given instant. This method of multitasking is sometimes termed "time-sharing" since each program is allocated a "slice" of time in turn.

A method of multitasking that takes a "slice" of time in turn is called what?

"time-sharing"

A signal that stops a compute executing instructions is called what?

an interrupt,


Seemingly, multitasking would cause a computer that is switching between several programs to run more slowly, in direct proportion to the number of programs it is running, but most programs spend much of their time waiting for slow input/output devices to complete their tasks. If a program is waiting for the user to click on the mouse or press a key on the keyboard, then it will not take a "time slice" until the event it is waiting for has occurred. This frees up time for other programs to execute so that many programs may be run simultaneously without unacceptable speed loss.

Multitasking would seemingly cause a computer to run in what fashion?

more slowly,

What do a lot of programs spend time waiting for?

input/output devices


Some computers are designed to distribute their work across several CPUs in a multiprocessing configuration, a technique once employed only in large and powerful machines such as supercomputers, mainframe computers and servers. Multiprocessor and multi-core (multiple CPUs on a single integrated circuit) personal and laptop computers are now widely available, and are being increasingly used in lower-end markets as a result.

Multiprocessor and multi-core computers have multiples of what?

CPUs


Supercomputers in particular often have highly unique architectures that differ significantly from the basic stored-program architecture and from general purpose computers. They often feature thousands of CPUs, customized high-speed interconnects, and specialized computing hardware. Such designs tend to be useful only for specialized tasks due to the large scale of program organization required to successfully utilize most of the available resources at once. Supercomputers usually see usage in large-scale simulation, graphics rendering, and cryptography applications, as well as with other so-called "embarrassingly parallel" tasks.

How many CPUs do supercomputers typically possess?

thousands

What is the name of a computer that has many CPUs and much more powerful?

Supercomputers


Computers have been used to coordinate information between multiple locations since the 1950s. The U.S. military's SAGE system was the first large-scale example of such a system, which led to a number of special-purpose commercial systems such as Sabre.

What system of the U.S. military's was the first large-scale system to coordinate information between several locations?

SAGE system

When were computers first used to coordinate information between many locations?

the 1950s


In the 1970s, computer engineers at research institutions throughout the United States began to link their computers together using telecommunications technology. The effort was funded by ARPA (now DARPA), and the computer network that resulted was called the ARPANET. The technologies that made the Arpanet possible spread and evolved.

ARPA is now known as what?

DARPA)

Who funded the linking of computers around the US in the 1970s?

ARPA


In time, the network spread beyond academic and military institutions and became known as the Internet. The emergence of networking involved a redefinition of the nature and boundaries of the computer. Computer operating systems and applications were modified to include the ability to define and access the resources of other computers on the network, such as peripheral devices, stored information, and the like, as extensions of the resources of an individual computer. Initially these facilities were available primarily to people working in high-tech environments, but in the 1990s the spread of applications like e-mail and the World Wide Web, combined with the development of cheap, fast networking technologies like Ethernet and ADSL saw computer networking become almost ubiquitous. In fact, the number of computers that are networked is growing phenomenally. A very large proportion of personal computers regularly connect to the Internet to communicate and receive information. "Wireless" networking, often utilizing mobile phone networks, has meant networking is becoming increasingly ubiquitous even in mobile computing environments.

The network spread to be known as what today?

the Internet.


The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a minimum capability (being Turing-complete) is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore, any type of computer (netbook, supercomputer, cellular automaton, etc.) is able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.

The ability to store and execute lists of instructions are called what?

programs

The mathematical statement of computers versatility is known as what?

The Church–Turing thesis


A computer does not need to be electronic, nor even have a processor, nor RAM, nor even a hard disk. While popular usage of the word "computer" is synonymous with a personal electronic computer, the modern definition of a computer is literally: "A device that computes, especially a programmable [usually] electronic machine that performs high-speed mathematical or logical operations or that assembles, stores, correlates, or otherwise processes information." Any device which processes information qualifies as a computer, especially if the processing is purposeful.[citation needed]

All devices that can process information can qualify being called what?

a computer


Historically, computers evolved from mechanical computers and eventually from vacuum tubes to transistors. However, conceptually computational systems as flexible as a personal computer can be built out of almost anything. For example, a computer can be made out of billiard balls (billiard ball computer); an often quoted example.[citation needed] More realistically, modern computers are made out of transistors made of photolithographed semiconductors.

Vacuum tubes in early computers were replaced by what?

transistors

Transistors are typically made up of what today?

photolithographed semiconductors

A computer that is made using pool balls is known as what?

billiard ball computer)


There is active research to make computers out of many promising new types of technology, such as optical computers, DNA computers, neural computers, and quantum computers. Most computers are universal, and are able to calculate any computable function, and are limited only by their memory capacity and operating speed. However different designs of computers can give very different performance for particular problems; for example quantum computers can potentially break some modern encryption algorithms (by quantum factoring) very quickly.

What type of computer can break encryption algorithms quickly?

quantum computers

By what method do quantum computers solve encryption algorithms quickly?

quantum factoring


A computer will solve problems in exactly the way it is programmed to, without regard to efficiency, alternative solutions, possible shortcuts, or possible errors in the code. Computer programs that learn and adapt are part of the emerging field of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Computer programs that can learn are studied in what field?

artificial intelligence


The term hardware covers all of those parts of a computer that are tangible objects. Circuits, displays, power supplies, cables, keyboards, printers and mice are all hardware.

Parts of a computer that are real objects are collectively known as what?

hardware


Software refers to parts of the computer which do not have a material form, such as programs, data, protocols, etc. When software is stored in hardware that cannot easily be modified (such as BIOS ROM in an IBM PC compatible), it is sometimes called "firmware".

Parts of a computer that are not material objects are collectively known as what?

Software

Software stored in hardware that cannot be changed easily is called what?

firmware

What type of "ware" is a BIOS ROM in a PC?

software


Firmware is the technology which has the combination of both hardware and software such as BIOS chip inside a computer. This chip (hardware) is located on the motherboard and has the BIOS set up (software) stored in it.

A BIOS chip is located where in a computer?

the motherboard

What type of software is stored in a BIOS chip?

BIOS set up


When unprocessed data is sent to the computer with the help of input devices, the data is processed and sent to output devices. The input devices may be hand-operated or automated. The act of processing is mainly regulated by the CPU. Some examples of hand-operated input devices are:

Processing data from input and output devices is typically done by what?

CPU

Where is the data from input devices sent to after being processed?

output devices


Black people is a term used in certain countries, often in socially based systems of racial classification or of ethnicity, to describe persons who are perceived to be dark-skinned compared to other given populations. As such, the meaning of the expression varies widely both between and within societies, and depends significantly on context. For many other individuals, communities and countries, "black" is also perceived as a derogatory, outdated, reductive or otherwise unrepresentative label, and as a result is neither used nor defined.

Do some countries have negative feelings towards the word "black"?

communities and countries, "black" is also perceived as a derogatory,

What is "black people" a term for?

racial classification or of ethnicity

Do all regions perceive that term "black people" the same?

the meaning of the expression varies widely both between and within societies

Do some cultures not use the term "Black people"?

, "black" is also perceived as a derogatory, outdated, reductive or otherwise unrepresentative label,

Can the term "black people" have different meanings?

the meaning of the expression varies widely both between and within societies, and depends significantly on context.


Different societies apply differing criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and these social constructs have also changed over time. In a number of countries, societal variables affect classification as much as skin color, and the social criteria for "blackness" vary. For example, in North America the term black people is not necessarily an indicator of skin color or majority ethnic ancestry, but it is instead a socially based racial classification related to being African American, with a family history associated with institutionalized slavery. In South Africa and Latin America, for instance, mixed-race people are generally not classified as "black." In South Pacific regions such as Australia and Melanesia, European colonists applied the term "black" or it was used by populations with different histories and ethnic origin.

Do all societies use the term "black" the same?

Different societies apply differing criteria regarding who is classified as "black"

What factors can affect the classification of "blackness"?

societal variables

Are mixed race people classified as black?

mixed-race people are generally not classified as "black."

How is the term "black" defined in the United States?

it is instead a socially based racial classification related to being African American, with a family history associated with institutionalized slavery.

How did European Colonists use the term "Black"?

European colonists applied the term "black" or it was used by populations with different histories and ethnic origin.


The Romans interacted with and later conquered parts of Mauretania, an early state that covered modern Morocco, western Algeria, and the Spanish cities Ceuta and Melilla during the classical period. The people of the region were noted in Classical literature as Mauri, which was subsequently rendered as Moors in English.

What made up Mauretania?

Morocco, western Algeria, and the Spanish cities Ceuta and Melilla

Who conquered parts of Mauretania?

The Romans

During what period did Mauretania exist?

the classical period.

Where were the people of the region noted?

in Classical literature

What is Mauri in English?

Moors


Numerous communities of dark-skinned peoples are present in North Africa, some dating from prehistoric communities. Others are descendants of the historical Trans-Saharan trade in peoples and/or, and after the Arab invasions of North Africa in the 7th century, descendants of slaves from the Arab Slave Trade in North Africa.

Where was the Arab Slave Trade?

North Africa

When were the Arab Invasions?

the 7th century

Where were numerous dark-skinned communities?

North Africa

When did these communities begin?

some dating from prehistoric communities.

Who are they descendants of?

Trans-Saharan trade in peoples


In the 18th century, the Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail "the Bloodthirsty" (1672–1727) raised a corps of 150,000 black slaves, called his Black Guard, who coerced the country into submission.

When did Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail live?

How many black slaves did he own?

What did he call his slave army?

Black Guard

What did the Black Guard do?

coerced the country into submission.

When did the Black Guard exist?

In the 18th century


According to Dr. Carlos Moore, resident scholar at Brazil's University of the State of Bahia, in the 21st century Afro-multiracials in the Arab world, including Arabs in North Africa, self-identify in ways that resemble multi-racials in Latin America. He claims that black-looking Arabs, much like black-looking Latin Americans, consider themselves white because they have some distant white ancestry.

Why would a black-looking Arab consider himself white?

because they have some distant white ancestry.

Where does Dr. Carlos Moore work?

Brazil's University of the State of Bahia

How do Afro-multiracials identify in the 21st century?

in ways that resemble multi-racials


Egyptian President Anwar Sadat had a mother who was a dark-skinned Nubian Sudanese woman and a father who was a lighter-skinned Egyptian. In response to an advertisement for an acting position, as a young man he said, "I am not white but I am not exactly black either. My blackness is tending to reddish".

Who was the Egyptian President?

Anwar Sadat

What ethnicity was his father?

Egyptian

What color did he refer to himself as?

reddish


Due to the patriarchal nature of Arab society, Arab men, including during the slave trade in North Africa, enslaved more black women than men. They used more black female slaves in domestic service and agriculture than males. The men interpreted the Qur'an to permit sexual relations between a male master and his female slave outside of marriage (see Ma malakat aymanukum and sex), leading to many mixed-race children. When an enslaved woman became pregnant with her Arab master's child, she was considered as umm walad or "mother of a child", a status that granted her privileged rights. The child was given rights of inheritance to the father's property, so mixed-race children could share in any wealth of the father. Because the society was patrilineal, the children took their fathers' social status at birth and were born free.

Who was enslaved more often?

black women

What were female slaves used for?

domestic service and agriculture

What did the Qur'an permit?

sexual relations between a male master and his female slave

What is the term for a pregnant slave?

umm walad

What does umm walad mean?

"mother of a child"