80+ History of English Language Solved MCQs

1.

Indo European language are believe to derive from a hypothetical language known as……………..

A. proto – indo- european
B. germanic
C. indo- iranian
D. avestan
Answer» A. proto – indo- european
2.

The earliest possible end of Proto- Indo- European linguistic unity is believed to be around

A. 3300 b c e
B. 3400 bce
C. 3000 bce
D. 4000 bce
Answer» B. 3400 bce
3.

……………..is the language that forms part f the Iranian group

A. avestan
B. english
C. dutch
D. german
Answer» A. avestan
4.

The earliest surviving written evidence of a Greek language is………….

A. mycenaean
B. avestan
C. indic
D. germanic
Answer» A. mycenaean
5.

In which language most of the ancient Greek poetry and prose were written?

A. mycenaean
B. greek
C. attic
D. indic
Answer» C. attic
6.

Insular celtic flourished in………….

A. england
B. ireland
C. germany
D. france
Answer» B. ireland
7.

……………is the last branch of Indo European languages to appear in written form.

A. latvian
B. danish
C. albanian
D. lithuvanian
Answer» C. albanian
8.

The term applied to certain changes in vowel in accented syllables owing to the influence of neighbouring sounds

A. umlaut or mutation
B. ablaut
C. consonant shift
D. vowel shift
Answer» A. umlaut or mutation
9.

Most of the important literary works of the Old English period were written in the ………. dialect

A. mercian
B. kentish
C. northumbrian
D. west saxon
Answer» D. west saxon
10.

Beowulf was written in ………..dialect

A. mercian
B. west saxon
C. kentish
D. northumbrian
Answer» B. west saxon
11.

…………was the dialect of the Jutes who were the earliest settlers in Britain

A. kentish
B. mercian
C. west saxon
D. northumbrian
Answer» A. kentish
12.

Which among are the dialects of Middle English?

A. mercian, northumbrian, northern
B. west saxon, kentish, east midland
C. northern, the midland, the southern
D. kentish, midland, mercian
Answer» C. northern, the midland, the southern
13.

The dialect of Middle English in which Chaucer wrote his poems

A. east midland
B. west midland
C. south midland
D. central midland
Answer» A. east midland
14.

During the Middle English period English came under the strong influence of the ………..language.

A. latin
B. french
C. german
D. greek
Answer» B. french
15.

Identify a word from French language which is common in usage.

A. ox
B. calf
C. sheep
D. beef
Answer» D. beef
16.

“ It is melancholy to think what English dinner table would have been like had there been no Norman Conquest” Whose words are these

A. chomsky
B. f t wood
C. a c baugh
D. macaulay
Answer» C. a c baugh
17.

The influence of Renaissance is most clearly seen in the introduction of a large number of …….. and …………… words into English during the early modern English period.

A. greek and latin
B. french and latin
C. greek and german
D. german and latin
Answer» A. greek and latin
18.

The term Inkhorn term refers to………..words and expressions borrowed indiscriminately from the classical languages

A. french
B. latin
C. german
D. west saxon
Answer» B. latin
19.

The Anglican Prayer Book was first issued in………….

A. 1456
B. 1540
C. 1549
D. 1500
Answer» C. 1549
20.

………….had translated the Bible in 1588

A. king james
B. coverdale
C. tyndale
D. purvey
Answer» D. purvey
21.

The history of the English Bible begins with the work of …………..in 1526

A. tyndale
B. purvey
C. coverdale
D. king james
Answer» D. king james
22.

Authorized version of Bible was published in…………

A. 1600
B. 1611
C. 1612
D. 1687
Answer» B. 1611
23.

The authorized version of Bible was made according to the suggestions of ……….

A. coverdale
B. dr johnson
C. king james i
D. king james ii
Answer» C. king james i
24.

The vocabulary of the authorized version of the Bible adopted mainly from…..

A. kentish
B. latin
C. french
D. anglo saxon
Answer» D. anglo saxon
25.

“ After reading St. Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews, Homer and Virgil are disgustingly tame to me Milton himself barely tolerable” Who said these words?

A. tennyson
B. coleridge
C. wordsworth
D. arnold
Answer» B. coleridge
26.

Printing was introduced into England in 1476 by …………….

A. william bailey
B. coverdale
C. william caxton
D. william jones
Answer» C. william caxton
27.

Which dialect was used by William Caxton for printing ?

A. west midland
B. east midland
C. kentish
D. central midland
Answer» B. east midland
28.

The remarkable changes in the pronunciation of vowels which took place during the transition from Middle English to Modern English are commonly referred to as the ………

A. great vowel shift
B. consonant shift
C. addition
D. mutation
Answer» A. great vowel shift
29.

The Old English Period has been called the period of …………

A. leveled inflections
B. lost inflection
C. less inflection
D. full inflection
Answer» D. full inflection
30.

The Middle English Period has been called the period of ……………

A. leveled inflections
B. lost inflection
C. less inflection
D. full inflection
Answer» A. leveled inflections
31.

The New English Period has been known as……………

A. leveled inflections
B. lost inflection
C. less inflection
D. full inflection
Answer» B. lost inflection
32.

“ How barbarously we yet write and speak. Your lordship knows, and I am sufficiently sensible in my own English” Whose words are these?

A. tennyson
B. dryden
C. johnson
D. wordsworth
Answer» B. dryden
33.

in the 18th century the need for standardization and regulation of English was summed up in the word………..

A. standardization
B. addition
C. ascertainment
D. regularization
Answer» C. ascertainment
34.

Who defined ascertainment as a “settled rule, an established standard.”

A. dryden
B. tennyson
C. swift
D. dr. johnson
Answer» D. dr. johnson
35.

“ A proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue” is the title of the letter by ………….

A. swift
B. dryden
C. tennyson
D. dr. johnson
Answer» A. swift
36.

Dr. Jonhson’s “ A Dictionary of the English Language” was published in ………

A. 1765
B. 1766
C. 1755
D. 1789
Answer» C. 1755
37.

Who is the author of “ A Dictionary of the English Language?

A. jonson
B. dr. johnson
C. swift
D. king james
Answer» B. dr. johnson
38.

Who is the author of the book “Practical Grammar of the English Tongue”

A. william jones
B. werner
C. dr. johnson
D. william loughton
Answer» D. william loughton
39.

“The Rudiment of English Grammar” was written by………

A. joseph priestley
B. william loughton
C. werner
D. dr. johnson
Answer» A. joseph priestley
40.

Who is the author of “ The British Grammar”?

A. robert lowth
B. james buchanan
C. loughton
D. swift
Answer» B. james buchanan
41.

Who of the following announced that many languages came from one old base language?

A. sir william jones
B. sassetti
C. jacob grimm
D. joseph greenberg
Answer» A. sir william jones
42.

What was the second earliest form of language seen on earth?

A. cave drawings
B. cuneiform
C. english
D. indo- european
Answer» B. cuneiform
43.

Which f the following words might be of Vicking Descent?

A. skate
B. crabby
C. rate
D. a and b
Answer» D. a and b
44.

Around how many words did Shakespeare invent?

A. 20.000
B. 9, 000
C. 10,000
D. 8000
Answer» A. 20.000
45.

During the Middle English period, many words were borrowed from which two languages?

A. celtic and old norse
B. latin and french
C. urdu and iroquoian
D. spanish and latin
Answer» B. latin and french
46.

Which Anglo- Irish writer proposed the creation of an English Academy to regulate English Usage and “ascertain” the language?

A. jonathan swift
B. samuel johnson
C. dryden
D. oliver goldsmith
Answer» A. jonathan swift
47.

The Philological society’sNew English Dictionary on Historical Principles, begun in 1879, was eventually published under which title in 1928?

A. roget’s thesaurus
B. the king’s english
C. oxford english dictionary
D. webster’s dictionary
Answer» C. oxford english dictionary
48.

“The Ecclesiastical History of the English People”, a key source f information about Anglo Saxon settlement is the work of ……….

A. william jones
B. venerable bede
C. king james i
D. william langland
Answer» B. venerable bede
49.

Who is the author of The First English Dictionary?

A. dr. johnson
B. robert cawdrey
C. john wilkins
D. thomas sheridon
Answer» B. robert cawdrey
50.

The First English Dictionary “ Table Alphabeticall” was published in…..

A. 1608
B. 1700
C. 1678
D. 1604
Answer» D. 1604
51.

Who is the author of the essay “ Essay Upon Projects” that proposes an academy of 36 “gentlemen” to dictate English usage?

A. daniel defoe
B. jonathan swift
C. oliver goldsmith
D. john wilkins
Answer» A. daniel defoe
52.

The Authorized Version of English Bible was published in which year?

A. 1607
B. 1611
C. 1612
D. 1600
Answer» B. 1611
53.

Which language is the most closely related to Modern English?

A. frisian
B. german
C. gothic
D. islandic
Answer» A. frisian
54.

Which language is the most closely related to Modern English

A. frisian
B. islandic
C. gothic
D. german
Answer» B. islandic
55.

Cynwulf wrote during which stage of Old English?

A. prehistoric
B. late old english
C. primitive
D. early old english
Answer» D. early old english
56.

Who wrote the “ Essay towards a Real character and a Philosophical Language”?

A. john wilkins
B. james hermes
C. thomas sheridan
D. william jones
Answer» A. john wilkins
57.

When part of one word is combined with part of another in order to form a new word , carrying with it the ideas behind both the original terms, is known as a ……………..word

A. loan word
B. noun word
C. portmanteau word
D. blend word
Answer» C. portmanteau word
58.

Which among is an example of Portmanteau word

A. melodrama
B. tragedy
C. nickname
D. forlorn
Answer» A. melodrama
59.

Which among the following is the contribution of Shakespeare?

A. utopian
B. idealism
C. multitudinous
D. fairy tale
Answer» C. multitudinous
60.

Identify the word that derived from Greek language

A. formula
B. phenomenon
C. fableaux
D. stratum
Answer» B. phenomenon
61.

Identify the word that borrowed from Latin to English

A. formula
B. phenomenon
C. criteria
D. analogy
Answer» A. formula
62.

Identify the word that borrowed from French to English

A. phenomenon
B. guillotine
C. theatre
D. genius
Answer» B. guillotine
63.

Who is the author of the book “The Growth and Structure of the English Language”?

A. otto jespersen
B. robert lowth
C. william bullokar
D. willaiam cobbett
Answer» A. otto jespersen
64.

Name of the group of related languages all derived from vulgar Latin within historical times and forming a subgroup of the italic branch of the Indo – European language family.

A. italic languages
B. sardinian languages
C. romanian languages
D. romance languages
Answer» D. romance languages
65.

Identify the language that is included in Romance languages

A. spanish
B. sanskrit
C. german
D. arabic
Answer» A. spanish
66.

Identify a word that is originated from Dutch language

A. rainbow
B. landscape
C. shampoo
D. water
Answer» B. landscape
67.

The word……………has been derived from Indian Language

A. rainbow
B. water
C. shampoo
D. skipper
Answer» C. shampoo
68.

In linguistics ………….is the study of words , how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language

A. ontology
B. morphology
C. phonology
D. etymology
Answer» B. morphology
69.

The branch of linguistics and logics concerned with meaning

A. morphology
B. ontology
C. semantics
D. etymology
Answer» C. semantics
70.

‘Immediate Constituent Analysis’ was first introduced by…………

A. zelling harris
B. roulon wells
C. bloomfield
D. norm chomsky
Answer» C. bloomfield
71.

Transformational-Generative Grammar was developed by……

A. bloomfield
B. norm chomsky
C. m a k halliday
D. henderson
Answer» B. norm chomsky
72.

………..put forward a theory called ‘Scale and Category Grammar’

A. bloomfield
B. j r firth
C. norm chomsky
D. m a k halliday
Answer» D. m a k halliday
73.

The Firthian or Hallidayan theory may be said to represent the………..School of Linguistics

A. american
B. british
C. french
D. german
Answer» B. british
74.

……….is an example of Freak formation

A. air- raid
B. teetotal
C. aviator
D. daisy
Answer» B. teetotal
75.

…………..is a semantic process by a term which at one time had a specialized and restricted meaning comes to have a wider application.

A. specialization
B. generalization
C. deterioration
D. polarisation
Answer» B. generalization
76.

A very large number of words have undergone a peculiar kind of change of meaning which consists in the addition of what has been called …..

A. generalization
B. specialisation
C. emotional connotation
D. deterioration
Answer» C. emotional connotation
77.

…………occurs when a word gains association with a negative stimulus, to then hold negative connotations.

A. elevation
B. shift
C. deterioration
D. generalization
Answer» C. deterioration
78.

……………is a type of semantic change that happens when a word’s meaning improves or becomes more positive over time .

A. deterioration
B. amelioration
C. generalization
D. specialization
Answer» B. amelioration
79.

…………..is a polite word or expression that is used to refer to things which people may find upsetting or embarrassing to talk about.

A. anaphora
B. euphemism
C. hyperbole
D. metaphor
Answer» B. euphemism
80.

……………is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups that do not have a language in common.

A. pidgin
B. creole
C. romance
D. patois
Answer» A. pidgin
81.

The dialect of a particular region, especially one with low status in relation to standard language of the country is known as………..

A. pidgin
B. creole
C. patois
D. romance
Answer» C. patois
82.

………….have resulted from the interactions between speakers of nonstandard varieties of European languages and speakers of no- European languages

A. pidgin
B. creole
C. patois
D. romance
Answer» B. creole
83.

What is the dialect of the working class of East End London ?

A. east anglian
B. lancashire
C. cockney
D. yorkshire
Answer» C. cockney
84.

American English derives from …….. century British English.

A. 16th
B. 15th
C. 18th
D. 17th
Answer» D. 17th
85.

Who is the author of “Decolonizing the Mind”?

A. ngugi wa thiong
B. chinua achiba
C. salman rushdie
D. bill ashcrofthe
Answer» A. ngugi wa thiong
86.

Who wrote “ Nation and Narration”?

A. gayatri spivak
B. homi k bhabha
C. salman rushdie
D. harish trivedi
Answer» B. homi k bhabha
87.

“Imaginary Homelands” is the work of ………….

A. gayatri spivak
B. homi k bhabha
C. ranajit guha
D. salman rushdie
Answer» D. salman rushdie
88.

The institutionalized study of English in India began with the …………of 1835

A. macaulay minute
B. charter act
C. wood’s despatch
D. government of india act
Answer» A. macaulay minute
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