A History of the English Language Quiz

What language family does English belong to?

• Romance

• Germanic

• Slavic

• Celtic

What major event in 1066 influenced the development of English?

• a) The Black Death

• b) The Industrial Revolution

• c) The Norman Conquest

• d) The Renaissance

What literary figure had a significant impact on the English language?

• a) William Shakespeare

• b) Ernest Hemingway

• c) Jane Austen

• d) Virginia Woolf

Which empire spread the English language to many parts of the world?

• a) The Roman Empire

• b) The Ottoman Empire

• c) The British Empire

• d) The Mongol Empire

What famous poem, written in Old English, tells the story of a hero who slays a dragon?

• a) Beowulf

• b) Romeo and Juliet

• c) The Canterbury Tales

• d) The Iliad

Which is not a stage in the development of English?

• Old English

• Modern English

• Post Modern English

• Middle English

What is the origin of the word "Thursday"?

• a) It is named after the Roman god of war, Mars

• b) It is derived from the Latin word for "fourth day".

• c) is named after the Norse god of Thunder, Thor.

• d) It is named after the Greek god of the sky, Zeus.

What was the Great Vowel Shift?

• a) A change in the pronunciation of certain English consonants in the Middle Ages.

• b) A change in the pronunciation of certain English vowels in the Middle Ages.

• c) A change in the order of the English alphabet.

• d) A change in the spelling of English words in the Renaissance.

What is one reason why the King James Version of the Bible is famous?

• A) It was the first translation of the Bible into English

• B) It is the most accurate translation of the Bible

• C) It is the most popular version of the Bible today

• D) It has influenced the English language and Western culture

How does the English language continue to evolve?

• a) It gets more complicated

• b) It becomes more consistent

• c) It takes words from other languages

• d) By losing vocabulary over time