History of English
English belongs to which major language family?
The Indo-European family
From which language does the word “restaurant” come?
French
Which letter is generally the most frequently occurring letter in written English?
E
What is a lingua franca?
A language used for communication between people with different first languages.
English belongs to which branch of the Germanic languages?
West Germanic
Which language gave English words such as algebra, coffee and cotton?
Arabic
What is unusual about the English pronoun “I”?
It is always written with a capital letter.
Name two areas where English is widely used as a lingua franca.
Business, science, education, tourism, aviation, diplomacy, etc.
Which historical event in 1066 greatly influenced the English language?
The Norman Conquest
Give two English words borrowed from Japanese.
karaoke, tsunami, sushi
What grammatical process allows “email” to function as both a noun and a verb?
Conversion / zero derivation
Name three varieties of English mentioned in the text.
British, American, Canadian, Australian, Indian, etc.
Which language became important in government and law after the Norman Conquest?
Norman French
What language is the source of shampoo, jungle and bungalow?
Hindi
What word-formation process creates brunch from breakfast + lunch?
Blending
What is one spelling difference between British and American English?
British: colour/centre/programme; American: color/center/program
Give two English word pairs that reflect the influence of French after 1066.
freedom–liberty; kingly–royal; begin–commence; help–assist
Match the word with its source language: piano, democracy, mosquito, telephone.
Italian, Greek, Spanish, Greek
Explain the difference between a blend and a compound, giving one example of each.
Blend: parts/words combined, e.g. brunch. Compound: complete words combined, e.g. toothbrush.
Why can English be considered a global means of communication?
Because it is used by people with many different first languages across national and linguistic boundaries.