History of English Language and Phonetics MCQS

Question. The word idiom, which is Greek in origin means:
(a) Nonsensical
(b) Standing apart on its own
(c) Funny
(d) Difficult to understand

Question. Consonant sounds articulated by the front of the tongue against the hard palate are known as –
(a) palato-alveolar
(b) post-alveolar
(c) palatal
(d) velar

Question. Which of the following words has an initial consonant cluster?
(a) Brave
(b) Think
(c) Short
(d) Thank

Question. Which of the following symbols represents schwa?
(a) / æ/
(b) /ʤ/
(c) /Ƞ/
(d) /ǝ/

Question. Diphthongs are also called
(a) monophthongs
(b) front vowels
(c) semi-vowels
(d) vowel glides

Question. A syllable that ends in a vowel is called
(a) open syllable
(b) closed syllable
(c) disyllabic
(d) syllabic consonant

Question. The number of pure vowels in the English phonology is
(a) 8
(b) 10
(c) 12
(d) 14

Question. A pure vowel is also called a
(a) Monophthong
(b) Diphthong
(c) Triphthong
(d) Vowel glide

Question. Two or more consonants at the beginning or at the end of a syllable are called
(a) syllable
(b) consonant cluster
(c) consonant sounds
(d) cardinal vowel

Question. A syllable in which there is an arresting consonant is known as
(a) marginal syllable
(b) open syllable
(c) closed syllable
(d) cardinal syllable

Question. The front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate during the production of
(a) central vowel
(b) front vowel
(c) back vowel
(d) closed vowel

Question. Syllable that ends in a vowel is called
(a) open syllable
(b) closed syllable
(c) half-open syllable
(d) wide syllable

Question. What is the syllabic structure for the word ‘crunch’?
(a) CVCCC
(b) CCVCCC
(c) CCVCC
(d) CCVC

Question. Vowels are articulated with a stricture of –
(a) Complete Closure
(b) Close Approximation
(c) Open Approximation
(d) Partial closure

Question. Sounds that perform the function of consonants but are phonetically vowels are called
(a) velar sounds
(b) voiced sounds
(c) semi-vowels
(d) voiceless sounds

Question. The soft palate is also known as
(a) larynx
(b) glottis
(c) velum
(d) None of the above

Question. ______________ consonants are represented in the left hand side of each consonant pairs in the IPA consonant chart.
(a) voiced
(b) voiceless
(c) lenis
(d) silent

Question. What is the most common manner of articulation in the English Consonants?
(a) Plosive
(b) Nasal
(c) Fricative
(d) Affricative

Question. The teeth ridge is also called
(a) alveolum
(b) velum
(c) alveolar
(d) velar

Question. Phoneme means the _______________ unit in the sound system of a language.
(a) stressed
(b) smallest
(c) longest
(d) most prominent

Question. For the production of speech sounds we need
(a) Air stream mechanism
(b) Organs of speech
(c) Lung air
(d) Articulation

Question. How many distinctive speech sounds or phonemes are there in English (Received Pronunciation of England or RP English)?
(a) 42
(b) 44
(c) 46
(d) 48

Question. When words with the same stem do not keep the primary stress on the same syllable, it is known as
(a) secondary stress
(b) stressed syllable
(c) stress-shift
(d) unstressed syllable

Question. Adjectives in all degrees of comparison have the accent in the
(a) first syllable
(b) second syllable
(c) third syllable
(d) both a and b

Question. When there are two or more consonants occurring together in a word, they are called ____
(a) consonant clusters
(b) group consonants
(c) initial consonants.
(d) Consonant variation

Question. All English sounds are produced with
(a) velaric air-stream
(b) ingressive glotallic air-stream
(c) pulmonic egressive air-stream
(d) none of the above

Question. Sound produced with a wide open glottis are called
(a) voiced sounds
(b) voiceless sounds
(c) nasal sounds
(d) nasal and voiceless sound

Question. Based on their places of articulation, sounds like /p/, /b/, /w/ and /m/ are classified under
(a) fricative sounds
(b) labio-dental sounds
(c) alveolar sounds
(d) bilabial sounds

Question. When the active articulator is brought so close to the passive articulator that the passage between them is narrow, and the air passes out with audible friction, we get
(a) Bilabial sounds
(b) Affricate sounds
(c) Nasal sounds
(d) Fricative

Question. Davy Jones’ locker is a metaphor connected with:
(a) The sea
(b) The army and warfare
(c) Superstitions
(d) Sports and pastimes

Question. Which of these is the study of meaning of word, and the development of the meaning of words
(a) Morphemics
(b) Phonetics
(c) Semantics
(d) Syntax

Question. When part of one word is combined with part of another in order to form a new word, it is called
(a) freak formation
(b) Syncopation
(c) portmanteau words
(d) false etymology

Question. The most important foreign contributions in English have come from__.
(a) Latin, Celtic and Italian
(b) Latin, French and Scandinavian
(c) Latin, French and Italian
(d) Latin, Spanish and German

Question. The term for words which have been adopted from foreign tongues is __.
(a) Foreign words
(b) Onomatopoeia
(c) Loan words
(d) Polarization

Question. When a new meaning is given to an old word, with the old word meaning remaining intact, it is called
(a) specialization
(b) generalization
(c) extension
(d) none of the above

Question. _______ of the English language distinguish three main stages in its development
(a) Historians
(b) Europeans
(c) Philosopher
(d) Foreigners

Question. The Indo-European language was spoken around the area of
(a) The Baltic Sea
(b) The Dead Sea
(c) The Black Sea
(d) The Mediterranean Sea

Question. Max Muller ,German Philologist is associated with
(a) Bow -wow theory
(b) Gesture theory
(c) Ding-Dong theory
(d) Pooh-Pooh theory

Question. Renaissance reached England about the year
(a) 1300
(b) 1400
(c) 1500
(d) 1700

Question. This theory traces all forms of speech utterance back to emotional interjections evoked by pain, surprise, pleasure, wonder etc.
(a) The bow- wow theory
(b) The ding- dong theory
(c) The pooh- pooh theory
(d) The gesture theory

Question. The original language of Britain was
(a) Celtic
(b) Anglo-Saxon
(c) Norman
(d) Latin

Question. It is believed that the original Indo- European has split up into __ distinct language groups.
(a) Five
(b) Six
(c) Seven
(d) Eight

Question. Primitive Germanic split ultimately into three important branches which are;
(a) Gothic, Scandinavian and West Germanic
(b) Gothic, Celtic and Albanian
(c) Spanish, Rumanian and Portuguese
(d) Swedish, Danish and Icelandic

Question. The most important dialect during the Old English period was:
(a) Welsh
(b) Wessex
(c) Kentish
(d) Mercian

Question. In 1453, _____________ , the seat of European learning fell to the Turks.
(a) Rome
(b) Constantinople
(c) London
(d) Athens

Question. The four chief aspects of any language are –
(a) Grammar, Spelling, Vocabulary, and Idioms
(b) Spelling, Vocabulary, Pronunciation, and Grammar
(c) Grammar, Syntax, Vocabulary, and Spelling
(d) Grammar, Spelling, Syntax, Idioms

Question. The Authorised Version/ King James Version of the Bible came out in
(a) 1604
(b) 1640
(c) 1611
(d) 1620

Question. In the year, _________, the seat of the European learning, Constantinople, fell into the hands of the Turks.
(a) 1643
(b) 1453
(c) 1673
(d) 1667

Question. In each syllable, there is _______ that is more prominent than the rest.
(a) two sounds
(b) one sound
(c) four sounds
(d) three sounds

Question. Which of the following vowels is an example of back vowel
(a) i
(b) e:
(c) u
(d) a:

Question. The word strengths has a final cluster of
(a) Two consonants
(b) Three consonants
(c) Four consonants
(d) Five consonants

Question. The structure of a syllable can be represented by the formula
(a) CVC
(b) V
(c) VC
(d) CV

Question. The front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate during the production of
(a) Back vowels
(b) Central vowels
(c) Front vowels
(d) Open vowel

Question. The syllabic structure of the word laughing is
(a) CVC-CVC
(b) CV-CVC
(c) CVCC-VCC
(d) CV-CVCC

Question. A vowel that remains constant and does not glide is known as
(a) diphthong
(b) monothong
(c) triphthong
(d) dithong

Question. We have falling diphthongs in which
(a) one sound glides over the other sound
(b) the second element is louder than the first element
(c) the air escapes freely and continuously
(d) the first element is louder than the second element

Question. What is the consonant that can act only as the arresting/final consonant in a syllable?
(a) Θ
(b) ŋ
(c) z
(d) d

Question. Who established the beginnings of the modern English legal system?
(a) The Normans
(b) The French
(c) The Scandinavians
(d) The Germans

Question. Before 1756 the type of language we now call slang was designated as
(a) Portmanteau
(b) Cant
(c) Camouflage
(d) Balderdash

Question. The quality of sounds that makes it possible to judge their “highness” or “lowness” is
(a) Tone
(b) Pitch
(c) Musical
(d) Loudness

Question. When the word ‘accent’ is accented on the second syllable, it is a
(a) verb
(b) noun
(c) pronoun
(d) adjective

Question. __________ is the name given to the process, seen most clearly in the principal part of verbs, which by vowel sounds undergo a change according to whether they occur in a stressed or unstressed syllable.
(a) Gradation
(b) i-mutation
(c) Primitive Germanic Consonant Shift.
(d) Stress modification

Question. What is the correct transcription for the word ‘accident’?
(a) /eksident/
(b) /æksidænt/
(c) /æksidənt/
(d) /aksident/

Fill in the blanks

Question. The history of the English language has traditionally been divided into ____ main periods.

Question. The Middle English period extends from about the year __________.

Question. In ______, English replaced French as the language of the law courts in England.

Question. A long word is _________ by abbreviating it.

Question. Through the process of ‘back-formation’ from the noun ‘pedlar’, we get the verb _________.

Question. ___________ is similar to Syncopation.

Question. Slang was earlier known as __________.

Question. _____________ is the description given to that figure of speech by which one seeks to hide the real nature of something unpleasant or repugnant by giving it a less offensive name.

Question. _________ is a system that contains sounds and alphabets.

Question. In the production of vowels, the air comes out freely through the _______.

Question. Pure vowels are also called ______.

Question. ______ is the symbol used for the vowel in the word ‘bread’.

Question. A diphthong should always consist of a __________________ syllable.

Question. __________ vowels are those during the articulation of which the tongue is quite close to the roof of the mouth.

Question. Accent or __________ is the force with which a syllable is pronounced.

Question. When the word accent is accented on the second syllable, it is a ___________.

Question. Nouns of two syllables generally have the ___________ syllable accented.

Question. When there are two or more consonants occurring together in a word, they are called _________.

Question. The word ‘bungalow’ is of ______ origin.

Question. A _____________- is a glide from one vowel to another and then to a third, all produced rapidly and without interruption.

Question. A syllable that ends in a vowel is called _____.

Question. Voiced sounds are produced when the ______ vibrate.

Question. Phoneme means the ______unit in the sound system of a language.

Question. ___________ consonant sounds are articulated by the lower lip against the upper teeth.

Question. Sounds that perform the function of consonants but are phonetically vowels are called _____.

Question. Voiced plosives are never ________ in English.

Question. _________ is the scientific study of speech sounds.

Question. __________ English carries with it and confers on its speaker a certain social prestige.

Question. ________ suggests that the first human language developed as onomatopoeia, imitation of natural sounds.

Question. In the past, the type of language which we now call slang was called _______.

Question. ______________ were adopted by Englishmen during the Middle English Period to distinguish people having the same names.