unit 3

Question 1

What are Romance languages derived from?

Answer 1

Romance languages originated from Latin.

Question 2

How many countries have French as their official language?

Answer 2

French is the official language in 29 countries.

Question 3

How many Latin American countries have Spanish as their official language?

Answer 3

Spanish is the official language in 18 Latin American countries.

Question 4

What must be examined to determine if languages belong to the same language family?

Answer 4

One must look at the differences between words.

Question 5

From which languages has Modern English primarily evolved?

Answer 5

Modern English has evolved primarily from the language spoken by the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons.

Question 6

What was England’s official language for 300 years?

Answer 6

For 300 years, England’s official language was French.

Question 7

When did England switch its official language to English?

Answer 7

England switched to English around 1204 after a large conflict with France.

Question 8

What did the Statute of Pleading enacted in 1363 change?

Answer 8

It changed the official language of court from French to English.

Question 9

What language became principal in North America after England defeated France?

Answer 9

The principal language of English in North America was assured during the 1700s.

Question 10

What languages does the Philippines retain as official after independence in 1946?

Answer 10

The Philippines retained English as one of its official languages, along with Filipino.

Question 11

What is a lingua franca?

Answer 11

A lingua franca is a language of international communication.

Example: English.

Question 12

What does ‘lingua franca’ literally mean?

Answer 12

‘Lingua franca’ literally means ‘language of the Franks.’

Question 13

> 90% of students in which region learn English in middle/high school?

Answer 13

> 90% of students in the European Union learn English in middle/high school.

Question 14

What percentage of all internet content is in English?

Answer 14

Around 12% of all internet content is in English.

Question 15

How are Chinese languages primarily written?

Answer 15

Chinese languages are written primarily with logograms.

Question 16

What is a logogram?

Answer 16

Logograms are symbols that represent words or meaningful parts of words.

Question 17

What is an official language?

Answer 17

An official language is used by the government to enact legislation, publish documents, and conduct other public business.

Question 18

What is a working language?

Answer 18

A working language is designated by an international organization or corporation as its primary means of communication for daily correspondence/conversation.

Question 19

How many official and working languages does the UN have?

Answer 19

The UN has 6 official and working languages.

Question 20

What is Franglais?

Answer 20

Franglais is a mix of French and English.

Question 21

What is Spanglish?

Answer 21

Spanglish is a mix of Spanish and English.

Question 22

What is Denglish?

Answer 22

Denglish is a mix of German and English.

Question 23

What is a pidgin language?

Answer 23

A pidgin language is a simplified version of a lingua franca.

Question 24

What is a dialect?

Answer 24

A dialect is a regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.

Question 25

What is a subdialect?

Answer 25

A subdialect is a subdivision of a dialect.

Question 26

Why does U.S. English differ from British English?

Answer 26

The vocabulary of U.S. English differs from British English because early settlers in the U.S. experienced new and different objects and experiences.

Question 27

What is a standard language?

Answer 27

A standard language is a dialect that is well established and widely recognized as the most acceptable for government, business, education, and mass communication.

Question 28

What is Received Pronunciation (RP)?

Answer 28

RP is the standard language in England, known worldwide as the dialect used by politicians, broadcasters, and actors.

Question 29

What is an isogloss?

Answer 29

An isogloss is a word-usage boundary.

Question 30

What is bidialectalism?

Answer 30

Bidialectalism is when someone speaks the 'Standard' of their language outside of home but switches back to their dialect when they get home.

Question 31

What is African American Vernacular English?

Answer 31

African American Vernacular English is the distinctive dialect preserved by African Americans during segregation.

Question 32

What is a creole or creolized language?

Answer 32

A creole or creolized language results from the mixing of a colonizer's language with the Indigenous language of the people being dominated. ## Footnote Creolized languages are classified as separate languages because they differ substantially from the original language.