Quiz on the History and Origin of the English Language

Which family of languages does English belong to?

• Afro-Asiatic

• Indo-European

• Sino-Tibetan

• Uralic

What was the parent tongue of English called?

• Proto-Germanic

• Middle English

• Proto-Indo-European

• Old English

Which language is most closely related to Modern English?

• Dutch

• Icelandic

• German

• Frisian

What type of language is Modern English considered?

• Isolating

• Synthetic

• Analytic

• Agglutinative

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of English inflections?

• Complex inflectional system

• Simplicity of inflections

• Openness of vocabulary

• Flexibility of function

What is British Received Pronunciation (RP) primarily associated with?

• Northern England

• Wales

• London and southeastern England

• Scotland

Which of the following is a type of consonant based on manner of articulation?

• Syllable

• Nasal

• Vowel

• Diphthong

What percentage of Modern English vocabulary is derived from Germanic sources?

• 50%

• 25%

• 10%

• 75%

Which letter was added to the Latin alphabet for use in abbreviations?

• Y

• J

• Z

• K

Who were the first tribes to settle in Britain according to the Venerable Bede?

• Celts, Jutes, and Saxons

• Angles, Jutes, and Frisians

• Jutes, Angles, and Saxons

• Angles, Saxons, and Normans