Characteristics of Modern English, Spelling Reform and the English Lexicon MCQ Quiz

Characteristics of Modern English, Spelling Reform and the English Lexicon – Exam Based MCQs

1. Modern English is generally said to have begun around: (UGC NET 2015)

A) 1066

B) 1200

C) 1500

D) 1800

Ans: C) 1500

2. One major characteristic of Modern English is that it is: (PGTRB 2019)

A) Highly inflected

B) Mostly analytic

C) Completely synthetic

D) Entirely agglutinative

Ans: B) Mostly analytic

3. The loss of most inflectional endings in English leads to greater dependence on: (SET 2018)

A) Case system

B) Word order and prepositions

C) Tone

D) Reduplication

Ans: B) Word order and prepositions

4. Which of the following is a typical feature of Modern English grammar? (UGC NET 2017)

A) Dual number on nouns

B) Grammatical gender on all nouns

C) Fixed SVO word order

D) Extensive case inflections

Ans: C) Fixed SVO word order

5. Which of these is a key characteristic of Modern English vocabulary? (PGTRB 2020)

A) Exclusively native words

B) Heavy borrowing from other languages

C) Only Germanic roots

D) Only Latin roots

Ans: B) Heavy borrowing from other languages

6. The term “English lexicon” refers to: (SET 2019)

A) English phonology

B) English grammar rules

C) The total stock of words in English

D) English spelling rules

Ans: C) The total stock of words in English

7. The influence of science and technology on Modern English has led to: (UGC NET 2018)

A) Reduction of vocabulary

B) Creation of numerous new terms

C) Elimination of loanwords

D) Reversion to Old English forms

Ans: B) Creation of numerous new terms

8. Modern English is often described as: (PGTRB 2021)

A) Monosyllabic

B) Polysynthetic

C) A world language

D) A dead language

Ans: C) A world language

9. Which century saw a rapid expansion of English vocabulary due to colonial expansion? (SET 2020)

A) 14th century

B) 16th–17th centuries

C) 11th century

D) 13th century

Ans: B) 16th–17th centuries

10. A major lexical characteristic of Modern English is the presence of: (UGC NET 2016)

A) Only Germanic synonyms

B) Triplets from Germanic, French, and Latin

C) No synonymy

D) Only Greek terms

Ans: B) Triplets from Germanic, French, and Latin

11. Which of the following is the correct chronological order? (PGTRB 2018)

A) Old English – Modern English – Middle English

B) Middle English – Old English – Modern English

C) Old English – Middle English – Modern English

D) Modern English – Middle English – Old English

Ans: C) Old English – Middle English – Modern English

12. “Standardization” of English in the Modern period is closely linked with: (SET 2017)

A) Growth of manuscript copying

B) Introduction of printing press

C) Norman Conquest

D) Viking invasions

Ans: B) Introduction of printing press

13. Which printer is famously associated with early standard English spelling? (UGC NET 2015)

A) William Caxton

B) William Tyndale

C) Thomas More

D) Samuel Johnson

Ans: A) William Caxton

14. The “Great Vowel Shift” chiefly affected: (PGTRB 2019)

A) Consonant system

B) Vowel pronunciation

C) Spelling rules

D) Word order

Ans: B) Vowel pronunciation

15. A key consequence of the Great Vowel Shift is: (SET 2016)

A) Perfect match between spelling and sound

B) Increased irregularity in English spelling

C) Elimination of diphthongs

D) Removal of silent letters

Ans: B) Increased irregularity in English spelling

16. Spelling reform aims at: (UGC NET 2019)

A) Making spelling more etymological

B) Making spelling more phonetic and regular

C) Preserving historical forms

D) Increasing silent letters

Ans: B) Making spelling more phonetic and regular

17. Which American lexicographer is most associated with spelling reform? (PGTRB 2020)

A) Samuel Johnson

B) Noah Webster

C) H. C. Wyld

D) Henry Sweet

Ans: B) Noah Webster

18. Webster’s reforms include spellings like: (SET 2018)

A) Colour, honour

B) Centre, theatre

C) Color, honor

D) Honour, metre

Ans: C) Color, honor

19. “Spelling Reform Association” and similar bodies campaigned for: (UGC NET 2014)

A) Preservation of irregular spelling

B) Phonetic simplification of English spelling

C) Adoption of Latin script

D) Removal of borrowed words

Ans: B) Phonetic simplification of English spelling

20. One argument against radical spelling reform is that: (PGTRB 2017)

A) It would make reading easier

B) It would break continuity with earlier literature

C) It would unify dialects

D) It would reduce homophones

Ans: B) It would break continuity with earlier literature

21. The spelling of “knight” reflects: (SET 2015)

A) Purely phonetic principle

B) Historical pronunciation now lost

C) French influence

D) Latin revival

Ans: B) Historical pronunciation now lost

22. Which dictionary is associated with the codification of British spelling? (UGC NET 2013)

A) Merriam-Webster

B) Oxford English Dictionary

C) Cambridge Advanced Dictionary

D) Collins Cobuild

Ans: B) Oxford English Dictionary

23. A major source of Modern English scientific vocabulary is: (PGTRB 2016)

A) Old Norse

B) Celtic

C) Latin and Greek

D) Gothic

Ans: C) Latin and Greek

24. The term “International English” points to: (SET 2020)

A) A fixed British standard only

B) The use of English as a global lingua franca

C) The end of all varieties

D) The extinction of English

Ans: B) The use of English as a global lingua franca

25. In Modern English, the plural ending -(e)s is: (UGC NET 2016)

A) A derivational suffix

B) An inflectional suffix

C) A prefix

D) A clitic

Ans: B) An inflectional suffix

26. The coexistence of “begin, commence, initiate” illustrates: (PGTRB 2019)

A) Monosyllabism

B) Lexical richness and synonymy

C) Lack of borrowing

D) Only French influence

Ans: B) Lexical richness and synonymy

27. “Loanword” in Modern English refers to: (SET 2017)

A) A word created from roots

B) A word borrowed from another language

C) A word whose meaning is lost

D) A slang term

Ans: B) A word borrowed from another language

28. Words like “bungalow”, “shampoo”, “pyjamas” entered the English lexicon from: (UGC NET 2017)

A) French

B) Latin

C) Indian languages

D) Russian

Ans: C) Indian languages

29. “Neologism” refers to: (PGTRB 2021)

A) An obsolete word

B) A newly coined word or expression

C) A borrowing from Latin

D) A dialect word only

Ans: B) A newly coined word or expression

30. The term “lexical borrowing” is especially common in discussions of: (SET 2019)

A) Syntax

B) Morphology

C) Contact between languages

D) Phonetics

Ans: C) Contact between languages

31. “Back-formation” creates new words by: (UGC NET 2018)

A) Adding affixes

B) Removing a supposed affix

C) Borrowing

D) Reduplicating

Ans: B) Removing a supposed affix

32. “Edit” from “editor” is an example of: (PGTRB 2018)

A) Blending

B) Back-formation

C) Coinage

D) Clipping

Ans: B) Back-formation

33. Acronyms like “UNESCO” belong to the English: (SET 2016)

A) Syntax

B) Lexicon

C) Phonology

D) Orthography only

Ans: B) Lexicon

34. The phrase “spelling pronunciation” describes: (UGC NET 2014)

A) Pronunciation based strictly on spelling

B) Historical pronunciation only

C) Dialect pronunciation

D) Received Pronunciation

Ans: A) Pronunciation based strictly on spelling

35. “Homophones” are words that: (PGTRB 2017)

A) Look the same, mean the same

B) Sound the same, differ in meaning/spelling

C) Differ only in stress

D) Come from the same root

Ans: B) Sound the same, differ in meaning/spelling

36. Which of the following pairs are homophones in Modern English? (SET 2018)

A) Read – red

B) See – sea

C) Bow – bow

D) Live – live

Ans: B) See – sea

37. “American English” and “British English” differences are seen in: (UGC NET 2019)

A) Spelling only

B) Pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary

C) Only syntax

D) Only idioms

Ans: B) Pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary

38. “Centre” (BrE) vs “center” (AmE) illustrates: (PGTRB 2020)

A) Lexical difference

B) Morphological difference

C) Orthographic variation

D) Semantic shift

Ans: C) Orthographic variation

39. The process “clipping” produces words like: (SET 2017)

A) Smog

B) Advertisement → ad

C) Breakfast + lunch → brunch

D) Motel (motor + hotel)

Ans: B) Advertisement → ad

40. “Blending” is exemplified by: (UGC NET 2016)

A) Nation → national

B) Smoke + fog → smog

C) Act → action

D) Book → booklet

Ans: B) Smoke + fog → smog

41. The term “lexical gap” refers to: (PGTRB 2021)

A) A word with many meanings

B) A concept with no single established word

C) A dead metaphor

D) A homograph

Ans: B) A concept with no single established word

42. Modern English spelling is often described as: (SET 2019)

A) Completely phonetic

B) Completely unpredictable

C) Partly phonetic, partly historical

D) Entirely pictographic

Ans: C) Partly phonetic, partly historical

43. “Orthography” is the study of: (UGC NET 2018)

A) Sound systems

B) Writing and spelling systems

C) Word origins

D) Sentence patterns

Ans: B) Writing and spelling systems

44. “Lexicography” is primarily concerned with: (PGTRB 2016)

A) Writing grammars

B) Writing dictionaries

C) Writing plays

D) Writing histories

Ans: B) Writing dictionaries

45. Which of the following is NOT a typical feature of Modern English? (SET 2018)

A) Fixed word order

B) Extensive inflectional endings

C) Large vocabulary

D) Global use

Ans: B) Extensive inflectional endings

46. Which reformer proposed a special alphabet for English spelling? (UGC NET 2013)

A) George Bernard Shaw

B) William Wordsworth

C) Jonathan Swift

D) T. S. Eliot

Ans: A) George Bernard Shaw

47. The English lexicon is often described as: (PGTRB 2019)

A) Limited and closed

B) Large, open and expanding

C) Purely Germanic

D) Purely Romance

Ans: B) Large, open and expanding

48. “Semantic shift” in the lexicon refers to: (SET 2020)

A) Change in spelling only

B) Change in pronunciation only

C) Change in meaning over time

D) Borrowing from another language

Ans: C) Change in meaning over time

49. “False friends” in the English lexicon refers to: (UGC NET 2017)

A) Words identical in spelling across languages

B) Similar-looking words in two languages with different meanings

C) Synonyms in English

D) Homonyms only

Ans: B) Similar-looking words in two languages with different meanings

50. The overall trend in Modern English is towards: (PGTRB 2022)

A) Greater inflection and fewer words

B) Less flexibility in use

C) Simplification of grammar and expansion of vocabulary

D) Isolation from other languages

Ans: C) Simplification of grammar and expansion of vocabulary