Influence of Native Languages on English

What is a loanword?

• A newly invented English word

• A word that is only used in one region

• A word borrowed from another language

• A word created by combining two English words

Why did English borrow words from native and indigenous languages?

• To make English harder to learn

• Because English lacked words for unfamiliar concepts and objects

• To replace Old English entirely

• To honor conquered peoples

What do the presence of words from African, American, and Asian languages in English suggest?

• English speakers had no grammar system

• English developed only in Europe

• English expanded through contact with diverse cultures

• English was imposed without influence from other languages

What is a pidgin?

• A dialect spoken by a specific community

• A simplified language used for communication between speakers of different languages

• A local variation of British English

• An extinct language from colonial times

What makes a creole different from a pidgin?

• A creole uses more French vocabulary

• A creole is always written

• A creole is a native language with a stable grammar

• A creole is simpler than a pidgin

Which of the following is a feature of creole languages?

• Use of complex Latin-based verb endings

• Use of particles instead of verb conjugation

• Strict adherence to British spelling rules

• No influence from African or native languages

What causes a pidgin to evolve into a creole?

• When it is used only in literature

• When speakers abandon it in favor of English

• When it becomes the first language of a community

• When the grammar becomes too difficult

What does the existence of English-based creoles demonstrate about language?

• Language can only change through education

• Creoles are incomplete versions of European languages

• Language naturally evolves in multicultural contact situations

• All languages become simpler over time

What do we call Englishes shaped by local cultures, like Indian English or Nigerian English?

• Broken English

• World Englishes

• British English

• Dialects

What does the influence of native languages on English show us?

• English has never changed

• English is resistant to new ideas

• English is a flexible and evolving language

• English developed without contact with other languages