Language Families Quiz

What is a language family?

• A group of unrelated languages.

• A group of languages with a common ancestor.

• A group of languages spoken in the same region.

• A collection of extinct languages.

Which of the following is NOT a major language family?

• Indo-European

• Sino-Tibetan

• Afro-Asiatic

• Proto-Austronesian

What is Proto-Indo-European?

• A branch of the Indo-European family.

• The original language of the Indo-European family.

• A language spoken in modern Europe.

• A dialect of Latin.

Where is the hypothesized homeland of Proto-Indo-European?

• Scandinavia

• Pontic-Caspian Steppe

• Central Asia

• Mesopotamia

Which of these is a branch of the Indo-European family?

• Dravidian

• Celtic

• Turkic

• Austroasiatic

Which branch includes Sanskrit and Hindi?

• Italic

• Indo-Aryan

• Baltic

• Germanic

What is Grimm's Law?

• A principle describing sound changes in the Germanic languages.

• A rule for Latin verb conjugation.

• A theory about Proto-Indo-European grammar.

• A classification system for extinct languages.

Which language is the sole survivor of the Hellenic branch?

• Latin

• Greek

• Gothic

• Sanskrit

What does "cognate" mean in linguistics?

• A word borrowed from another language.

• A word that shares a common origin with another word.

• A language isolate.

• A phonetic rule.

Who is credited with recognizing the connection between Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek?

• Ferdinand de Saussure

• Noam Chomsky

• Sir William Jones

• Edward Sapir