Languages of Asia and the Americas

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. The earliest known examples of the use of Chinese characters are found on "Oracle Bones," that date from about _______ years ago. 3500 800 1200 2100

2. In his movie "The Passion of the Christ," Mel Gibson had his characters speaking ancient languages used in the Levant at time of the events depicted. Which of these was *not* one of them? Hebrew Aramaic Latin Sumerian

3. Which of these American Indian languages did the part-time "language philosopher" Benjamin Whorf *incorrectly* describe as having no grammatical or lexical forms which allow for the indication of time? Hopi Iroquois Navaho Anasazi

4. Which of these Western Hemisphere countries does *not* have English as an official language? Guyana Belize Suriname Barbados

5. In order to make the written language more accessible to "the people," the Communist government of mainland China developed a system in which many complex traditional characters were simplified. Which of the following countries has generally adopted this simplification for the Chinese characters used in its writing systems? Taiwan South Korea Singapore Japan

6. To borrow from Sesame Street: which one of these is not like the others? Three of these Asian languages are commonly grouped as members of one language family. Which is the odd one out? Khalkha Mongolian Chinese Manchu Turkic

7. Which is *not* an official language of Papua New Guinea? English Pidgin All these three are officially recognized Dutch

8. Chief Sequoyah (a.k.a. George Guess) is credited with the early 19th century invention of a writing system for this American Indian language. (Hint: "Trail of Tears".) Cherokee Algonquin Seminole Apache

9. This language played an important role in Asian history and religion. Though current first language speakers number only in the thousands and there are but a few hundred thousand second language speakers, it is recognized by the government of India as an official language. What is it? Hindi Sanskrit Urdu Tamil

10. Goa, a largely autonomous state on the west coast of India, was occupied by a colonial power for about 450 years, until it was forcibly annexed under the government of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961. The language of the colonizers, however, is now spoken by only a few Goans, and its use is gradually dying out. What is this language? Portuguese Spanish English Turkish