English Language

Spoken English originated from old ______ languages.

• Germanic

• Baltic

• Celtic

• Romantic

After the Norman invasion of 1066, French became the language of _____ in England.

• Everyone

• The ruling class

• The printing press

• Farm workers

When French speakers conquered England, their language became the language of the ruling class, but not of the rest of society. What are some of the effects such a split in language use might have?

The printing press came to England in ____.

• 1674

• 1746

• 1476

• 1467

The 'gh' spelling was originally used for ____.

• A vowel sound

• A 'g' sound

• A 'v' sound

• A sound Latin didn’t have

When people tried to adapt the Latin alphabet to English, they had to figure out ways to represent sounds that Latin didn’t have. What are some solutions languages can use to extend a writing system to cover the sounds they need to represent?

The Great Vowel Shift affected how English vowels were pronounced ____.

• Before spelling was standardized

• In Old English

• After spelling was standardized

• While spelling was being standardized

The printing press came to England before conventions for writing in English had been standardized. What are some of the problems that can arise when a new technology starts being used in an area where there is no agreement on standards yet?