ENG501 Midterm Solved Papers

ENG 501- History of English Language · Midterm Exam Questions and Answers · Short Questions (2 or 3 marks each)

Q: Explain Linguistics briefly.

A: The scientific study of language and its structure, including the study of grammar, syntax, and phonetics. Specific branches of linguistics include sociolinguistics, dialectology, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics, comparative linguistics, and structural linguistics.

QDefine diachronic linguistics.

ADiachronic linguistics is the scientific study of language change over time. It is the study of language through different periods in history. It maps the shifts, fractures and mutations of languages over the centuries.

QLanguage of law court.

AFrench was the language of lawyers and the law courts down to 1362.

Q- Difference between inflection and derivation?

QRole of literature in language.

ALiterature is a mirror of times and also a mirror of language/s used during the times. So for example, literature written in England during the Middle English period also reflects the times and language choices of the times.

Q- Anglicism. (*No such term found- Answer for the term ‘Anglia’)

AThe terms Angli and Anglia occur beside Saxons and refer not to the Angles individually but to the West Germanic tribes generally.

QArbitrariness.

AArbitrariness: There is no ‘natural’ connection between a linguistic form and its meaning.

QTime of old English.

Ac.500 to c.1100

QOrigin of word ‘English’.

AThe word ‘English’ is derived from the name of the Angles (OE Engle) but is used without distinction for the language of all the invading tribes.

QArticle in Middle English.

AThe definite article in ME is almost invariably ‘te’ or ‘the’.

Example: ‘te castles and bi the fet’.

Q: Status of Latin in 15th Century.

A: In the fifteenth century, English succeeds in displacing Latin as the general language spoken and written.

Q: What is language family tree?

A: A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestral language or parental language, called the protolanguage of that family.

Q: What John Barton wrote in his book in 15th century?

A: In the first decade of the fifteenth century, John Barton wrote a ‘Donet François’, a treatise intended for adults who wished to learn French.

Q: Two divisions in Celtic language.

A: The Celtic languages in England had two divisions: Gaelic or Goidelic branch and the Brythonic branch.

Q: Army and Navy examples in Middle English.

A: Control of the army and navy was in the hands of French people so naturally French military terms were used. Examples include: army, navy, peace, enemy, arms, battle, combat, skirmish, defense, ambush, retreat, soldier, garrison, guard, and spy. Also Officers: captain, lieutenant and sergeant are French words.

Q: English and England difference.

A: From the beginning, writers in the vernacular never called their language anything but Englisc (English). The word is derived from the name of the Angles (OE Engle) but is used without distinction for the language of all the invading tribes. From about the year 1000, the name England (land of the Angles) began to be used in place of Angelcynn. The name English is thus older than the name England.

Q: Difference between “Thee” and “Thou”.

A: Today we use you in both cases. In Old English, thou and thee were singular and ye and you were plural, but in Middle English times the custom arose of using ye/you as a polite or deferential way of addressing a single person, and this usage spread; thou and thee gradually dropped out of use in everyday speech, and finally disappeared (except in some dialects, where they persist to this day).

Q: Vowels in Old English.

A: Old English contains six vowel symbols a, e, i, o, u and y, and a seventh one, a, called ‘ash’. All these represent both long and short vowels.

Q: French importance in 15th century.