Growth of English Vocabulary from Foreign Languages & Change in Meaning – Exam Based MCQs
1. The largest early source of loanwords in English after the Norman Conquest was: (UGC NET 2015)
A) Latin
B) French
C) Greek
D) Celtic
Ans: B) French
2. Words like “government”, “court”, “justice”, “parliament” entered English mainly from: (PGTRB 2019)
A) Old Norse
B) French
C) Italian
D) Celtic
Ans: B) French
3. Many basic legal and administrative terms in English are of ______ origin. (SET 2018)
A) Greek
B) French
C) Sanskrit
D) Russian
Ans: B) French
4. The words “sky”, “egg”, “they”, and “take” were borrowed from: (UGC NET 2017)
A) Old Norse
B) Latin
C) Arabic
D) Italian
Ans: A) Old Norse
5. Which language contributed many religious and scholarly terms such as “altar”, “bishop”, “scripture”? (PGTRB 2020)
A) Greek
B) Latin
C) Arabic
D) Persian
Ans: B) Latin
6. The English scientific vocabulary of the Renaissance period drew heavily on: (SET 2019)
A) Celtic and Irish
B) Greek and Latin
C) Hindi and Urdu
D) Russian and Polish
Ans: B) Greek and Latin
7. Words like “bungalow”, “jungle”, “pundit”, “shampoo” came into English from: (UGC NET 2018)
A) Arabic
B) Indian languages
C) Russian
D) Dutch
Ans: B) Indian languages
8. The term “loanword” refers to: (PGTRB 2021)
A) A word invented independently
B) A word borrowed from another language
C) A word used only in finance
D) A word with no meaning
Ans: B) A word borrowed from another language
9. The spread of English as a world language in the 19th–20th centuries led to: (SET 2020)
A) A decrease in vocabulary
B) Massive borrowing from many world languages
C) Abandonment of loanwords
D) Only internal word formation
Ans: B) Massive borrowing from many world languages
10. “Amok”, “bamboo”, and “orangutan” are examples of loans from: (UGC NET 2016)
A) Celtic languages
B) Malay and other Southeast Asian languages
C) Russian
D) Hebrew
Ans: B) Malay and other Southeast Asian languages
11. Words like “algebra”, “alcohol”, “sugar”, “sofa” are mainly from: (PGTRB 2018)
A) Arabic
B) Greek
C) Russian
D) Japanese
Ans: A) Arabic
12. The English word “piano” is borrowed from: (SET 2017)
A) French
B) Italian
C) Spanish
D) Portuguese
Ans: B) Italian
13. “Tea”, “ketchup”, “typhoon” are partly from or influenced by: (UGC NET 2019)
A) Chinese languages
B) Icelandic
C) Latin
D) Greek
Ans: A) Chinese languages
14. “Yen”, “kimono”, and “karaoke” are obvious examples of English borrowings from: (PGTRB 2019)
A) Korean
B) Japanese
C) Thai
D) Malay
Ans: B) Japanese
15. “Kindergarten” and “wanderlust” came into English from: (SET 2016)
A) German
B) Dutch
C) French
D) Russian
Ans: A) German
16. The English word “boss” is usually traced back to: (UGC NET 2015)
A) French
B) Dutch
C) Latin
D) Hindi
Ans: B) Dutch
17. “Robot” is a loanword in English from: (PGTRB 2020)
A) Russian
B) Czech
C) Polish
D) Hungarian
Ans: B) Czech
18. The term “semantic change” refers to: (SET 2015)
A) Change in spelling
B) Change in pronunciation
C) Change in meaning of a word over time
D) Change in grammar only
Ans: C) Change in meaning of a word over time
19. When a word’s meaning becomes more general than before, it is called: (UGC NET 2016)
A) Narrowing
B) Broadening
C) Pejoration
D) Amelioration
Ans: B) Broadening
20. When a word’s meaning becomes more restricted than earlier, the process is: (PGTRB 2017)
A) Broadening
B) Narrowing
C) Metaphor
D) Metonymy
Ans: B) Narrowing
21. The word “meat” in Old English meant “food in general”; now it usually means “animal flesh”. This is an example of: (SET 2018)
A) Broadening
B) Narrowing
C) Amelioration
D) Pejoration
Ans: B) Narrowing
22. “Doctor” once meant “teacher” but now commonly refers to a medical practitioner. This is an example of: (UGC NET 2017)
A) Broadening
B) Narrowing and specialization
C) Pejoration
D) Metaphor
Ans: B) Narrowing and specialization
23. “Knight” originally meant “servant” but later came to denote a noble warrior. This change is: (PGTRB 2018)
A) Pejoration
B) Amelioration
C) Broadening
D) Metonymy
Ans: B) Amelioration
24. When a word’s meaning takes on a more negative sense, the process is called: (SET 2016)
A) Amelioration
B) Pejoration
C) Broadening
D) Narrowing
Ans: B) Pejoration
25. The word “silly” once meant “blessed” or “innocent” but now usually means “foolish”. This is: (UGC NET 2018)
A) Broadening
B) Narrowing
C) Amelioration
D) Pejoration
Ans: D) Pejoration
26. The extension of “head” from body part to “head of a department” is an example of: (PGTRB 2020)
A) Metaphor
B) Metonymy
C) Broadening
D) Pejoration
Ans: A) Metaphor
27. The use of “the White House” to mean “the U.S. presidency” is: (SET 2017)
A) Metaphor
B) Metonymy
C) Narrowing
D) Broadening
Ans: B) Metonymy
28. “Nice” originally meant “ignorant” or “foolish”, but now usually means “pleasant”. This is: (UGC NET 2019)
A) Amelioration
B) Pejoration
C) Broadening
D) Metonymy
Ans: A) Amelioration
29. “Girl” once meant a “young person” of either sex; now it usually means a female child. This is: (PGTRB 2021)
A) Broadening
B) Narrowing and specialization
C) Pejoration
D) Metonymy
Ans: B) Narrowing and specialization
30. The process where a brand name like “Xerox” comes to mean “photocopy” in general is: (SET 2020)
A) Narrowing
B) Genericization / Broadening
C) Pejoration
D) Metonymy
Ans: B) Genericization / Broadening
31. “Hound” once meant any dog, but now means a specific type of dog. This illustrates: (UGC NET 2016)
A) Broadening
B) Narrowing
C) Metaphor
D) Pejoration
Ans: B) Narrowing
32. When a word acquires a more favourable meaning than before, it is: (PGTRB 2019)
A) Pejoration
B) Amelioration
C) Broadening
D) Metonymy
Ans: B) Amelioration
33. The influence of French on English vocabulary is especially strong in fields like: (SET 2019)
A) Seafaring and law
B) Law, fashion, cuisine and government
C) Astronomy and physics
D) Computer science
Ans: B) Law, fashion, cuisine and government
34. Scandinavian influence on English left a major mark on: (UGC NET 2014)
A) Spelling only
B) Basic everyday words and grammar (e.g. “they”, “are”)
C) Only scientific terms
D) Only literary vocabulary
Ans: B) Basic everyday words and grammar (e.g. “they”, “are”)
35. “Alcohol”, “algebra” and “alkali” illustrate the influence of ______ on scientific English. (PGTRB 2016)
A) Norse
B) Arabic
C) Celtic
D) Hindi
Ans: B) Arabic
36. “Tycoon” and “futon” are borrowings into English from: (SET 2017)
A) Japanese
B) Chinese
C) Korean
D) Thai
Ans: A) Japanese
37. “Curry”, “verandah”, and “thug” are associated with the influence of: (UGC NET 2018)
A) African languages
B) Indian languages
C) Greek
D) German
Ans: B) Indian languages
38. The development of English technical vocabulary in the 19th and 20th centuries relied mostly on: (PGTRB 2022)
A) Native Anglo-Saxon roots only
B) Neo-Latin and Greek formations
C) Only French roots
D) Celtic and Welsh
Ans: B) Neo-Latin and Greek formations
39. “Computer mouse” for a pointing device is mainly an example of: (SET 2020)
A) Pejoration
B) Metaphor
C) Narrowing
D) Amelioration
Ans: B) Metaphor
40. “Broadcast” originally meant “sow seeds by hand”; its extension to radio and TV transmission is: (UGC NET 2016)
A) Narrowing
B) Broadening and metaphorical extension
C) Pejoration
D) Amelioration
Ans: B) Broadening and metaphorical extension
41. “Gay” earlier meant “cheerful” but later acquired the dominant sense “homosexual”. This illustrates: (PGTRB 2019)
A) Only broadening
B) Pejoration and specialization of a sense
C) Amelioration
D) Narrowing to neutral sense
Ans: B) Pejoration and specialization of a sense
42. The change of “hound” from “dog in general” to “a particular kind of dog” is a case of: (SET 2018)
A) Generalization
B) Specialization
C) Amelioration
D) Metonymy
Ans: B) Specialization
43. The growth of English vocabulary is described as: (UGC NET 2019)
A) Closed and fixed
B) Open, constantly expanding through borrowing and word-formation
C) Declining steadily
D) Limited to slang
Ans: B) Open, constantly expanding through borrowing and word-formation
44. “Neologism” refers to: (PGTRB 2016)
A) A dead word
B) A newly coined or recently borrowed word
C) A word with many meanings
D) A technical abbreviation only
Ans: B) A newly coined or recently borrowed word
45. “False friends” between English and another language are: (SET 2017)
A) Words that look similar but differ in meaning
B) Exact equivalents
C) Borrowings with same meaning
D) Only slang terms
Ans: A) Words that look similar but differ in meaning
46. Which of the following is NOT a major type of semantic change? (UGC NET 2015)
A) Broadening
B) Narrowing
C) Amelioration
D) Synchronization
Ans: D) Synchronization
47. The modern sense of “villain” shifted from “farm worker” to “wicked person”. This is: (PGTRB 2020)
A) Amelioration
B) Pejoration
C) Broadening
D) Metonymy
Ans: B) Pejoration
48. The influence of foreign languages on English often results in: (SET 2020)
A) Reduced expressiveness
B) Increased lexical richness and stylistic options
C) Total loss of native words
D) Elimination of synonyms
Ans: B) Increased lexical richness and stylistic options
49. The borrowing of “pizza”, “opera”, and “sonata” into English shows the influence of: (UGC NET 2017)
A) Italian
B) French
C) German
D) Arabic
Ans: A) Italian
50. Overall, the growth of English vocabulary from foreign sources and change in meaning demonstrate: (PGTRB 2022)
A) That English is a closed, pure language
B) That English is a mixed, dynamic language open to contact and innovation
C) That borrowings are always harmful
D) That meanings never shift
Ans: B) That English is a mixed, dynamic language open to contact and innovation
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