History of the English language

Approximately how many people are currently learning English worldwide?

• Around 500 million

• Over 1.5 billion

• About 750 million

• Less than 1 billion

In the introduction, English is described as the “lingua franca” of modern global society. What does “lingua franca” mean in this context?

• a language used only in literature

• a language spoken only by native speakers

• a common language used for communication between speakers of different native languages

• a language that has no foreign influences

When did English begin to emerge as a distinct language?

• In Roman times, around the 1st century

• In the early Middle Ages, around the 5th century

• In the Renaissance, around the 15th century

• In the 18th century, during the Industrial Revolution

Which Germanic tribes contributed to the development of Old English?

• Angles, Saxons and Franks

• Saxons, Vikings and Celts

• Angles, Saxons and Jutes

• Jutes, Normans and Romans

What was a major characteristic of Old English?

• It was mainly influenced by Latin and Greek

• It was characterised by its Germanic roots

• It had mostly French vocabulary

• It was a simplified form of modern English

How did Norse invaders during the Viking Age influence Old English?

• They completely replaced Old English with Norse

• They introduced new writing systems

• They enriched its vocabulary and affected its grammar and syntax

• They only influenced English pronunciation

What was the most pivotal event in the history of English?

• The invention of the internet

• The signing of the Magna Carta

• The Norman Conquest of 1066

• The fall of the Roman Empire

What was one major linguistic consequence of the Norman Conquest?

• The removal of all Germanic words from English

• The introduction of thousands of French words into English

What did the mixture of Old English and Norman French lead to?

• The end of English as a spoken language

• The creation of a completely new language unrelated to English

• The development of Middle English

• The return to pure Germanic English

What important role did William Caxton’s printing press (1476) play in the history of English?

• It ended the use of English in literature

• It caused English to split into many unrelated dialects

• It helped standardise and spread Middle English

• It made Latin the official language of England