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World Languages Quiz Worksheet

QUIZLINO
Set 1 Β· Mixed
Name:Class / Group:Score:     / 20

Choose the best answer for each question. The answer key is on the last page.

  1. What is the world's oldest writing system still in continuous use today?
    A. Chinese characters B. Cuneiform C. Hieroglyphics D. Devanagari
  2. What is the status of the Indus Valley script today?
    A. It was deciphered in 1920 B. It is identical to Brahmi C. It is still undeciphered D. It was deciphered using a bilingual stone
  3. Which language family does Hindi belong to?
    A. Indo-Aryan B. Dravidian C. Sino-Tibetan D. Semitic
  4. Which language has the most native speakers in Europe?
    A. German B. French C. Russian D. English
  5. Along with English, which language is official in the Philippines?
    A. Filipino B. Spanish C. Cebuano D. Malay
  6. Which ancient language was revived as a spoken everyday language in modern times?
    A. Latin B. Hebrew C. Sanskrit D. Coptic
  7. Which language is co-official with Spanish in Catalonia?
    A. Basque B. Galician C. Occitan D. Catalan
  8. Who created the constructed language Esperanto in 1887?
    A. L. L. Zamenhof B. Ludwik Lazarz C. J.R.R. Tolkien D. Charles Bliss
  9. 'Kamsahamnida' means 'thank you' in which language?
    A. Korean B. Japanese C. Mandarin D. Vietnamese
  10. Which is the most widely spoken Dravidian language by number of speakers?
    A. Telugu B. Tamil C. Kannada D. Malayalam
  11. What is the academic term for the study of language structure and rules?
    A. Linguistics B. Etymology C. Philology D. Semiotics
  12. Which ancient Mesopotamian language is the oldest known written language with deciphered texts?
    A. Sumerian B. Akkadian C. Elamite D. Hittite
  13. What is the linguistic term for words that sound alike but differ in meaning?
    A. Homophones B. Synonyms C. Antonyms D. Homographs
  14. Which sign language is used by the deaf community in the United Kingdom?
    A. American Sign Language B. International Sign C. British Sign Language D. Signed English
  15. "Merhaba" is a greeting in which language?
    A. Turkish B. Greek C. Hebrew D. Farsi
  16. What is the most widely spoken second language in the world?
    A. French B. English C. Spanish D. Mandarin
  17. Which ancient script was used for most of Emperor Ashoka's edicts?
    A. Brahmi B. Kharosthi C. Devanagari D. Grantha
  18. Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam belong to which language family?
    A. Dravidian B. Indo-Aryan C. Austroasiatic D. Sino-Tibetan
  19. From which language does English get the word 'bungalow'?
    A. Tamil B. Marathi C. Bengali D. Urdu
  20. "Guten Tag" is a greeting from which country's language?
    A. France B. Germany C. Italy D. Spain
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Answer key – World Languages (Set 1)

  1. A. Chinese characters – Chinese characters are considered the world's oldest writing system still in continuous use, dating back more than 3,000 years to inscriptions on 'oracle bones' from the Shang dynasty. Ancient scripts like cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs are older but are no longer used.
  2. C. It is still undeciphered – The Indus Valley script, used by the Harappan civilisation around 2600–1900 BC, is still undeciphered. Most inscriptions are very short, about five signs, and no bilingual text like the Rosetta Stone has been found. Scholars debate whether it even represents a full language.
  3. A. Indo-Aryan – Hindi belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from Sanskrit through Prakrit languages. Other Indo-Aryan languages include Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu. Hindi and Urdu share most grammar and everyday vocabulary.
  4. C. Russian – Russian has the most native speakers in Europe, about 110–120 million within Europe. German has the most native speakers within the European Union. Russian is also widely spoken across Central Asia and the former Soviet Union.
  5. A. Filipino – Filipino, based mainly on Tagalog, is an official language of the Philippines along with English. The Philippines has over 170 languages. Filipino contains many Spanish loanwords from over 300 years of Spanish rule, such as 'mesa' (table) and 'silya' (chair).
  6. B. Hebrew – Hebrew was revived as an everyday spoken language in the late 19th and 20th centuries, largely due to Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who raised his son speaking only Hebrew and compiled a modern dictionary. For centuries before, Hebrew had been used mainly for prayer and study.
  7. D. Catalan – Catalan is co-official with Spanish in Catalonia, Spain, and spoken by about 10 million people. It is also the only official language of Andorra. Catalan is a Romance language, not a dialect of Spanish. It has a rich literature dating from the Middle Ages.
  8. A. L. L. Zamenhof – L. L. Zamenhof, a Jewish eye doctor from BiaΕ‚ystok (then in the Russian Empire, now Poland), created Esperanto in 1887. He grew up in a town where Polish, Russian, Yiddish and German speakers often mistrusted each other, and hoped a common language would promote understanding.
  9. A. Korean – 'Kamsahamnida' (κ°μ‚¬ν•©λ‹ˆλ‹€) is a formal way to say 'thank you' in Korean. A less formal version is 'gomawo'. Korean politeness levels change the ending of words, so choosing the right form depends on whom you are speaking to.
  10. A. Telugu – Telugu is the most widely spoken Dravidian language, with about 83 million native speakers, mainly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is followed closely by Tamil. Telugu is sometimes called the 'Italian of the East' because its words usually end in vowels.
  11. A. Linguistics – Linguistics is the scientific study of language, including its structure, sounds, meaning and use. Its branches include phonetics (sounds), syntax (sentence structure), semantics (meaning) and sociolinguistics (language in society). Noam Chomsky is a famous linguist.
  12. A. Sumerian – Sumerian, spoken in ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), is the oldest known written language with deciphered texts, dating from about 3200 BC. It is a language isolate. The Epic of Gilgamesh was first composed in Sumerian, and Sumerian later survived as a scholarly language.
  13. A. Homophones – Homophones are words that sound the same but differ in meaning and often spelling, like 'to', 'too' and 'two', or 'flower' and 'flour'. Homographs are spelled the same but differ in meaning, like 'bat' (animal) and 'bat' (cricket bat). Homophones are a common source of puns.
  14. C. British Sign Language – British Sign Language (BSL) is used by the deaf community in the UK, with about 150,000 users. It was officially recognised as a language of Great Britain in the BSL Act of 2022. BSL uses a two-handed alphabet, unlike the one-handed American Sign Language alphabet.
  15. A. Turkish – 'Merhaba' is a common Turkish greeting meaning 'hello'. It comes from Arabic 'marhaban' (welcome), and similar forms are used in Arabic, Persian and some Balkan languages. A more formal Turkish greeting is 'GΓΌnaydΔ±n' (good morning).
  16. B. English – English is the world's most widely spoken second language, learned by over a billion people. It is the main language of international business, aviation, science and the internet. In India, English is widely used in higher education, courts and business.
  17. A. Brahmi – Most of Emperor Ashoka's edicts, carved on rocks and pillars in the 3rd century BC, were written in Brahmi script in Prakrit languages. Brahmi is the ancestor of most South and Southeast Asian scripts, including Devanagari, Tamil and Thai. James Prinsep deciphered it in 1837.
  18. A. Dravidian – Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu belong to the Dravidian family, spoken mainly in South India by about 250 million people. Brahui, spoken in Pakistan's Balochistan, is a surprising northern Dravidian language. Dravidian languages are not related to Indo-Aryan languages like Hindi.
  19. C. Bengali – 'Bungalow' comes from the Bengali/Hindi 'bangla', meaning 'in the Bengal style', referring to single-storey houses with verandas built for Europeans in colonial Bengal. The word spread worldwide in the 19th century for single-storey homes.
  20. B. Germany – 'Guten Tag' ('good day') is a German greeting, used during the daytime in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. German also has 'Guten Morgen' (good morning) and 'Guten Abend' (good evening). In southern Germany and Austria, people often say 'Grüß Gott' instead.