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Quiz about World Languages
Quiz about World Languages

25 Difficult Questions about World Languages


Welcome to my quiz on language trivia. Sit back, relax, and see how much you know of world languages.

A multiple-choice quiz by marcgarellek. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
marcgarellek
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
70,388
Updated
Jun 30 23
# Qns
25
Difficulty
Difficult
Avg Score
12 / 25
Plays
2895
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 109 (17/25), Guest 194 (19/25), Guest 27 (8/25).
Question 1 of 25
1. Which of the following languages does not go under the SEMITIC category? Hint


Question 2 of 25
2. Which language puts the definite article ('the') at the end of the noun? Hint


Question 3 of 25
3. Which of the following languages spoken in Europe is NOT part of the Indo-European language family? Hint


Question 4 of 25
4. To which of the following language groups does English belong? Hint


Question 5 of 25
5. Which language is NOT commonly spoken in South Africa? Hint


Question 6 of 25
6. What is the name for the popular form of Ancient Greek which Modern Greek is said to have come from? Hint


Question 7 of 25
7. What does 'hysteria' mean in Greek? Hint


Question 8 of 25
8. Which is not an official language of Switzerland? Hint


Question 9 of 25
9. What is the Korean alphabet called? Hint


Question 10 of 25
10. Which Latin case is said to be "instrumentative"? Hint


Question 11 of 25
11. In what language do people of Russian Orthodox faith pray? Hint


Question 12 of 25
12. From what language is the word 'oasis' said to have originated? Hint


Question 13 of 25
13. Which of the following is not a Slavic language? Hint


Question 14 of 25
14. Which language is believed by some to be the most similar to English? Hint


Question 15 of 25
15. From what language does the word 'taboo' come? Hint


Question 16 of 25
16. Which of the following Indian languages doesn't belong to the Indo-European family? Hint


Question 17 of 25
17. Which of the following is NOT a Romance language? Hint


Question 18 of 25
18. What is the name for the Japanese logographic script based on Chinese characters? Hint


Question 19 of 25
19. How do you say China in Mandarin? Hint


Question 20 of 25
20. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, from what language does the word 'ketchup' come? Hint


Question 21 of 25
21. What is the name for the accent used in Czech and other Slavic languages that looks like an upside down circumflex accent (Like a small v)? Hint


Question 22 of 25
22. In what mood is the phrase 'If I were you'? Hint


Question 23 of 25
23. Which of the following languages is not written in Latin (Roman) script? Hint


Question 24 of 25
24. Which name is not of Hebrew origin? Hint


Question 25 of 25
25. From what language does the word 'bagel' come? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 27 2024 : Guest 109: 17/25
Mar 26 2024 : Guest 194: 19/25
Mar 25 2024 : Guest 27: 8/25
Mar 22 2024 : 3115: 6/25
Mar 22 2024 : Guest 129: 11/25
Mar 21 2024 : Guest 137: 3/25
Mar 21 2024 : Guest 98: 0/25
Mar 20 2024 : Guest 203: 17/25
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Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Which of the following languages does not go under the SEMITIC category?

Answer: Ancient Egyptian

Ancient Egyptian belongs to the 'Hamito-Semitic' (often called Afro-Asian) group of languages.
2. Which language puts the definite article ('the') at the end of the noun?

Answer: Swedish

It is a characteristic of the Scandinavian languages (and some others) that the definite article is placed at the end of the noun.
3. Which of the following languages spoken in Europe is NOT part of the Indo-European language family?

Answer: Finnish

Finnish, along with Estonian and Hungarian, belong to a group of languages called 'Finno-Ugrian'.
4. To which of the following language groups does English belong?

Answer: Germanic

Although English has been greatly influenced by Romance and to some extent by Celtic languages, it belongs to the Germanic family.
5. Which language is NOT commonly spoken in South Africa?

Answer: Swahili

Swahili is spoken in Central Africa, in countries such as Tanzania.
6. What is the name for the popular form of Ancient Greek which Modern Greek is said to have come from?

Answer: Koiné

Koiné comes from the Greek word 'koinos', meaning 'common'. It was widely used in the Eastern Mediterranean area in Roman times and is the laguage of the original of the New Testament.
7. What does 'hysteria' mean in Greek?

Answer: the womb

Hysteria was thought to be found only amongst women, hence the origin of the word.
8. Which is not an official language of Switzerland?

Answer: English

Switzerland has an additional language, Italian, spoken in the south.
9. What is the Korean alphabet called?

Answer: Hangul

Hangul is one of the very few alphabets of whom we know the name of the creator.
10. Which Latin case is said to be "instrumentative"?

Answer: Ablative

The ablative case is used to say 'with what' and other variations.
11. In what language do people of Russian Orthodox faith pray?

Answer: Old Church Slavonic

Old Church Slavonic is the ancestor of modern Russian.
12. From what language is the word 'oasis' said to have originated?

Answer: Ancient Egyptian

The word is said to have come from Greek, originally of Egyptian origin (OED).
13. Which of the following is not a Slavic language?

Answer: Lithuanian

Lithuanian is the only language of non-Slavic origin; it belongs to the Baltic family.
14. Which language is believed by some to be the most similar to English?

Answer: Frisian

Frisian is spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland and on the Frisian islands, which belong to Germany and the Netherlands.
15. From what language does the word 'taboo' come?

Answer: Tongan

Yes, it is of obscure origin. Tonga is an island group in the Pacific Ocean.
16. Which of the following Indian languages doesn't belong to the Indo-European family?

Answer: Tamil

Tamil belongs to the Dravidian family, and is spoken in southern India.
17. Which of the following is NOT a Romance language?

Answer: Basque

Asturian, Galician and Corsican are all minor Romance languages. Basque, which is spoken in France and Spain, belongs to no known language group.
18. What is the name for the Japanese logographic script based on Chinese characters?

Answer: Kanji

Hiragana and Katakana are both other Japanese syllabic scripts, which are also more simplified than Kanji.
19. How do you say China in Mandarin?

Answer: Zhong Guo

Zhong Guo means 'middle kingdom'.
20. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, from what language does the word 'ketchup' come?

Answer: Chinese

There is some debate about the origin, but the authoritative OED states that it comes from the dialectal term 'koechiap' meaning 'pickled-fish brine'.
21. What is the name for the accent used in Czech and other Slavic languages that looks like an upside down circumflex accent (Like a small v)?

Answer: Hacek

The word Haček means 'little hook' in Czech. It is also called a caron. Its serves as a palatization indicator ( k > ch , e > ye , s > sh) for the letters including C,S,Z,E and R.

Some browsers don't like the "č" symbol, so I have had to omit it in the answer options!
22. In what mood is the phrase 'If I were you'?

Answer: Subjunctive

The increasingly-unpopular subjunctive is a mood describing wishes and desires. 'Long live the king!' and 'If music be the food of love' are both in the subjunctive mood.
23. Which of the following languages is not written in Latin (Roman) script?

Answer: Russian

The Russian alphabet is called Cyrillic.
24. Which name is not of Hebrew origin?

Answer: Peter

Peter comes from the Greek word for 'stone'.
25. From what language does the word 'bagel' come?

Answer: Yiddish

Many words come from this Ashkenazi-Jewish language, such as nosh, chutzpah, and schtick.
Source: Author marcgarellek

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