Formation of English Language Quiz

What is a pidgin?

• A super cool messenger bird.

• A grammatically simplified form of a language, used for communication between people not sharing a common language.

• A common dialect used in a specific region of the world.

• Another word for a creole.

What is NOT a reason for the development of the English language?

• War

• Migration

• Eastern-Standard Time Change.

• Invasion

What is a creole?

• Spicy food.

• A group of people who invaded America long ago.

• An area in the U.S., where people speak English, but have a French accent.

• A mother tongue formed from the contact of two languages through an earlier pidgin stage.

What are the root languages from which most English words are derived?

• Latin or Greek

• Italian or French

• Portuguese or Spanish

• Klingon or Elvish.

Which of these is true of the English language?

• Its syntax and grammar rules are always consistent no matter what.

• It is a Germanic language.

• It was invented by William Shakespeare.

• There are 20,000 English words in the Webster Dictionary.

What is the meaning of "colloquialism?"

• When a native English speaker wakes up speaking an entirely new language they've never heard before.

• A word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation.

• A combination of the words "creole" and "pidgin."

• An area of English that can be interpreted as highly esoteric, and requiring an adept level of understanding.

Which one of these answers is an example of a New England regionalism?

• Johnny got a soda from the bubbler, and it tasted wicked good.

• Nancy threw her ball way over the fence.

• Albert was shocked by Sally's beautiful singing voice.

• The car had antique license plates, but had never actually been driven.

What is the formal word for a language's sentence structure?

• Grammar

• Adjective

• Noun

• Syntax