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Quiz about Languages and Language Families
Quiz about Languages and Language Families

Languages and Language Families Quiz


This is a tough quiz about languages and language families of the world. Enjoy.

A multiple-choice quiz by Maiguy. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
Maiguy
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
263,406
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
1368
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 223 (0/10), Guest 73 (6/10), Guest 128 (7/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Which one of the following Eastern European languages is not part of the Slavic language group? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Apart from Lowland-Scottish, which some scholars consider to be an Anglic variety rather than a true language, which minor European continental language is considered to be the most closely related to the English language? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Switzerland has four official languages. How many of them belong to the Romance family of languages? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Which one of the following is not a dialect of the Chinese language? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Some scholars divided the history of English into several stages of development. In what stage was the English language when the King James Version of the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare were written? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. The Hebrew language is considered part of which family of languages? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Which one of the following languages of Northern Europe is not considered a Norse language? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Which of the following languages of North American Natives is divided into three linguistic varieties: Lakota, Dakota and Nakota? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Which of the following languages of the Southwestern Native Americans was used as a code by the US Marines during World War II? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The US Army was the first to use Native American code talkers during World War I. Which Eastern American Native language was the basis for that unbreakable code? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 28 2024 : Guest 223: 0/10
Mar 18 2024 : Guest 73: 6/10
Mar 18 2024 : Guest 128: 7/10
Mar 17 2024 : Guest 188: 2/10
Mar 14 2024 : Guest 128: 10/10
Mar 03 2024 : Guest 202: 5/10
Feb 27 2024 : Guest 204: 0/10
Feb 24 2024 : stpancras: 5/10
Feb 21 2024 : Guest 111: 4/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Which one of the following Eastern European languages is not part of the Slavic language group?

Answer: Hungarian

Russian, Polish and Slovak are all part of the Slavic language group of the Indo-European language family. Hungarian is part of the Finno-Ugric language sub-family of the Uralic language family.
2. Apart from Lowland-Scottish, which some scholars consider to be an Anglic variety rather than a true language, which minor European continental language is considered to be the most closely related to the English language?

Answer: Frisian

Frisian and English are both part of the West Germanic language group. Frisian is a language spoken by the Frisian ethnic minority in the northern Netherlands and scattered regions of coastal Germany and Denmark. A rhyme in both languages shows the striking similarity between the two tongues. The Frisian equivalent of the English verse "Butter, bread, and green cheese is good English and good Fries," translates to "Bûter, brea, en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk."

Walloon is part of the Romance language group and is closely related to modern French. Estonian is part of the Finno-Ugric language sub-family and is related to Finnish. Breton is part of the Celtic language group and is distantly related to the Welsh, Irish, and Scottish Gaelic languages.
3. Switzerland has four official languages. How many of them belong to the Romance family of languages?

Answer: 3

Switzerland's four official languages are, in order of everyday speakers, German, French, Italian, and Romansh. German is part of the Germanic language group and is not a Romance language. French and Italian are part of the Italo-Western sub-group of the Romance language group. Romansh is part of the Rhaeto-Romance sub-group of the Romance group and is spoken by a small population of about 50,000 residents of the canton of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland.

It is believed that Romansh descended from the vulgar dialect of Latin spoken by occupiers of the region during the era of the Roman Empire.
4. Which one of the following is not a dialect of the Chinese language?

Answer: Szechuan

Mandarin (or Beifanghua) is the official language of the People's Republic of China and one of the official languages of Taiwan and Singapore. It is the most widely spoken dialect of Chinese with over 800 million everyday users. With 90 million speakers, Wu is the second most widely spoken dialect in China. Cantonese, with 80 million, is the third most widely spoken dialect. Szechuan is a province in Western China known for its spicy cuisine. Most people in Szechuan speak the Mandarin dialect of Chinese.
5. Some scholars divided the history of English into several stages of development. In what stage was the English language when the King James Version of the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare were written?

Answer: Early Modern English

The period of Early Modern English lasted roughly from the 1450s to the 1650s. The King James or Authorized Version of the Bible was completed in 1611. Shakespeare wrote from the 1580s until his death in 1616. The epic poem "Beowulf" is considered a masterpiece of the Old English period and Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" is perhaps the best known literary example of Middle English.
6. The Hebrew language is considered part of which family of languages?

Answer: Afro-Asiatic

Hebrew is part of the Semitic sub-family of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages. Semitic sub-family consists of languages such as Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic, Aramaic, and numerous extinct languages mentioned in the Bible such as Canaanite, Moabite, Edomite, and Samaritan Hebrew.

The Indo-European languages are spoken from Western Europe to Indian sub-continent. Dravidian is a small family of languages spoken in southern Asia. Uralic is a family of languages spoken from northern Asia to Eastern Europe.
7. Which one of the following languages of Northern Europe is not considered a Norse language?

Answer: Finnish

Norwegian and Icelandic are considered part of the West Norse sub-group of the Germanic group of the Indo-European family. Swedish is part of the East Norse sub-group of the Germanic group. The Finnish language is part of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic family of languages.
8. Which of the following languages of North American Natives is divided into three linguistic varieties: Lakota, Dakota and Nakota?

Answer: Sioux

Sioux is part of the Siouan language family, which also includes the Crow, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Winnebago languages.
9. Which of the following languages of the Southwestern Native Americans was used as a code by the US Marines during World War II?

Answer: Navajo

Navajo is part of the Athabaskan language family. The Navajo code talkers were the subject of the 2002 Hollywood film "Windtalkers" staring Nicholas Cage and Adam Beach. The Navajo code was actually a "code inside a code," meaning that a code was buried inside the Navajo language. For example the code word for fighter plane (DA-HE-TIH-HI) means "humming bird" in Navajo, the code word for grenade (NI-MA-SI) means "potatoes", and the code word for sailor (CHA-LE-GAI) means "white hats".
10. The US Army was the first to use Native American code talkers during World War I. Which Eastern American Native language was the basis for that unbreakable code?

Answer: Choctaw

In 1918, fourteen Choctaw speakers were attached to US Thirty-Sixth Division to provide coded communication during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. Their ability to rapidly code and decode key messages is credited with helping the American Expeditionary Force win several key battles during the campaign which helped win the war for the Allies.

The Choctaw code was revised and reinstituted during World War II. Like the code of their Navajo comrades, the Choctaw code was never broken by the enemy.
Source: Author Maiguy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Beatka before going online.
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