Indo–European Family and the Place of English Language – Exam Based MCQs
1. English belongs to which language family? (UGC NET 2015; PGTRB 2018; SET 2020)
A) Sino-Tibetan
B) Afro-Asiatic
C) Indo–European
D) Dravidian
Ans: C) Indo–European
2. The Indo–European family of languages was earlier known as: (UGC NET 2014; SET 2017; PGTRB 2019)
A) Aryan family
B) Sanskritic family
C) Indo-Germanic family
D) Classical family
Ans: C) Indo-Germanic family
3. English is a member of which branch of the Indo–European family? (PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2016; SET 2018)
A) Italic
B) Celtic
C) Germanic
D) Slavic
Ans: C) Germanic
4. The Germanic branch is divided into how many major groups? (UGC NET 2016; SET 2019)
A) Two
B) Three
C) Four
D) Five
Ans: B) Three
5. English belongs specifically to which group of the Germanic branch? (PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2017; SET 2019)
A) East Germanic
B) North Germanic
C) West Germanic
D) Proto-Germanic
Ans: C) West Germanic
6. Which of the following languages is NOT a member of the Germanic branch? (UGC NET 2017; SET 2016; PGTRB 2018)
A) English
B) German
C) Latin
D) Dutch
Ans: C) Latin
7. The East Germanic group is represented chiefly by: (PGTRB 2017; SET 2018)
A) Old English
B) Gothic
C) Old Norse
D) Old High German
Ans: B) Gothic
8. North Germanic languages are also called: (UGC NET 2018; PGTRB 2021)
A) Romance languages
B) Scandinavian languages
C) Celtic languages
D) Indo-Iranian languages
Ans: B) Scandinavian languages
9. West Germanic languages include: (SET 2020; UGC NET 2015)
A) English, German, Dutch
B) Greek, Latin, French
C) Russian, Polish, Czech
D) Irish, Welsh, Scots Gaelic
Ans: A) English, German, Dutch
10. Old English developed mainly from which West Germanic dialects? (UGC NET 2018; PGTRB 2019; SET 2017)
A) Scandinavian dialects
B) Anglian, Saxon and Jutish
C) Celtic dialects
D) Latin dialects
Ans: B) Anglian, Saxon and Jutish
11. The Indo–European family includes all of the following branches EXCEPT: (UGC NET 2016; SET 2018)
A) Indo-Iranian
B) Italic
C) Uralic
D) Germanic
Ans: C) Uralic
12. The branch of Indo–European to which Sanskrit belongs is: (PGTRB 2018; UGC NET 2015; SET 2019)
A) Celtic
B) Indo-Iranian
C) Slavic
D) Anatolian
Ans: B) Indo-Iranian
13. Greek belongs to which Indo–European branch? (UGC NET 2017; SET 2020)
A) Hellenic
B) Germanic
C) Celtic
D) Baltic
Ans: A) Hellenic
14. Latin belongs to which Indo–European branch? (PGTRB 2017; UGC NET 2014)
A) Slavic
B) Italic (Romance)
C) Germanic
D) Celtic
Ans: B) Italic (Romance)
15. French, Spanish and Italian belong to which branch of Indo–European? (UGC NET 2018; SET 2016; PGTRB 2020)
A) Germanic
B) Romance (Italic)
C) Indo-Iranian
D) Baltic
Ans: B) Romance (Italic)
16. Russian and Polish belong to which Indo–European branch? (SET 2018; UGC NET 2017)
A) Slavic
B) Celtic
C) Germanic
D) Hellenic
Ans: A) Slavic
17. Lithuanian belongs to which branch? (UGC NET 2016; PGTRB 2021)
A) Baltic
B) Slavic
C) Celtic
D) Romance
Ans: A) Baltic
18. Irish and Welsh belong to which Indo–European branch? (PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2015; SET 2017)
A) Slavic
B) Celtic
C) Germanic
D) Indo-Iranian
Ans: B) Celtic
19. The extinct Indo–European language often cited as East Germanic is: (UGC NET 2014; SET 2019)
A) Latin
B) Gothic
C) Old Irish
D) Old Church Slavonic
Ans: B) Gothic
20. The term “Proto–Indo–European (PIE)” refers to: (PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2018; SET 2020)
A) The earliest written English
B) The hypothetical reconstructed ancestor of Indo–European languages
C) The dialect of Chaucer
D) A modern creole variety
Ans: B) The hypothetical reconstructed ancestor of Indo–European languages
21. The comparative method in historical linguistics is mainly used to: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2021)
A) Translate poems
B) Reconstruct earlier forms of languages and establish relationships
C) Teach spoken English
D) Analyze discourse
Ans: B) Reconstruct earlier forms of languages and establish relationships
22. English is classified as West Germanic because it is historically closest to: (PGTRB 2018; UGC NET 2016)
A) Swedish and Danish
B) German and Dutch
C) Russian and Polish
D) French and Spanish
Ans: B) German and Dutch
23. Which of the following is a North Germanic language? (SET 2017; UGC NET 2015; PGTRB 2019)
A) Dutch
B) Icelandic
C) English
D) German
Ans: B) Icelandic
24. Which of the following is NOT a Romance language? (UGC NET 2016; SET 2019)
A) Portuguese
B) Romanian
C) Swedish
D) Italian
Ans: C) Swedish
25. The “Germanic sound shift” is also known as: (PGTRB 2017; UGC NET 2014; SET 2018)
A) Great Vowel Shift
B) Grimm’s Law
C) Verner’s Law
D) Palatalization
Ans: B) Grimm’s Law
26. Verner’s Law is associated with: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020)
A) Stress-conditioned exceptions to Grimm’s Law
B) The printing press
C) French loanwords
D) Latin inflections
Ans: A) Stress-conditioned exceptions to Grimm’s Law
27. The cognate relationship among Indo–European languages is best shown by: (PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2017)
A) Random similarities
B) Systematic sound correspondences and shared roots
C) Borrowing only
D) Identical spelling
Ans: B) Systematic sound correspondences and shared roots
28. English is considered a “Germanic language” primarily because of its: (UGC NET 2015; SET 2017; PGTRB 2019)
A) Scientific vocabulary
B) Core grammar and basic vocabulary of Germanic origin
C) French words
D) Latin spelling
Ans: B) Core grammar and basic vocabulary of Germanic origin
29. The parent language of the Germanic branch is called: (SET 2016; UGC NET 2014)
A) Proto–Indo–European
B) Proto–Germanic
C) Old Norse
D) Old English
Ans: B) Proto–Germanic
30. The most important non-Germanic influence on English vocabulary after 1066 is: (UGC NET 2016; PGTRB 2018; SET 2019)
A) Greek
B) French
C) Russian
D) Chinese
Ans: B) French
31. Which of the following best represents the “family tree” model in linguistics? (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018)
A) Languages evolve without any relationship
B) Languages diversify from common ancestors into branches
C) Languages are created artificially
D) Only borrowing matters in language change
Ans: B) Languages diversify from common ancestors into branches
32. The “Indo–European” label mainly reflects the geographical spread from: (PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2015; SET 2020)
A) India to Europe
B) Africa to Asia
C) China to Europe
D) America to Europe
Ans: A) India to Europe
33. Which of the following branches includes Persian? (UGC NET 2016; SET 2017)
A) Indo-Iranian
B) Italic
C) Celtic
D) Baltic
Ans: A) Indo-Iranian
34. Which branch includes Hindi? (PGTRB 2020; SET 2019)
A) Indo-Iranian (Indo-Aryan)
B) Celtic
C) Germanic
D) Slavic
Ans: A) Indo-Iranian (Indo-Aryan)
35. The Romance languages developed primarily from: (UGC NET 2014; PGTRB 2018; SET 2016)
A) Greek
B) Latin
C) Sanskrit
D) Gothic
Ans: B) Latin
36. The Germanic languages are typically grouped as: (UGC NET 2015; SET 2018)
A) Northern, Southern, Central
B) Eastern, Western, Northern
C) Eastern, Central, Southern
D) Western, Southern, Eastern
Ans: B) Eastern, Western, Northern
37. Old Norse is most closely related to: (PGTRB 2017; UGC NET 2016)
A) North Germanic
B) West Germanic
C) Romance
D) Celtic
Ans: A) North Germanic
38. Which of the following is a Celtic language? (SET 2017; UGC NET 2018; PGTRB 2021)
A) Welsh
B) Danish
C) Dutch
D) Persian
Ans: A) Welsh
39. In the Indo–European family, English is placed under: (UGC NET 2016; PGTRB 2019; SET 2020)
A) Indo–European → Germanic → West Germanic
B) Indo–European → Celtic → Brythonic
C) Indo–European → Italic → Romance
D) Indo–European → Slavic → East Slavic
Ans: A) Indo–European → Germanic → West Germanic
40. Which pair are closest relatives within West Germanic? (PGTRB 2020; SET 2019)
A) English and Spanish
B) English and Dutch
C) English and Greek
D) English and Russian
Ans: B) English and Dutch
41. Which statement best describes English in relation to Indo–European? (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2021)
A) English is unrelated to other European languages
B) English is a Germanic language within Indo–European
C) English is a Semitic language
D) English is a Dravidian language
Ans: B) English is a Germanic language within Indo–European
42. The branch that includes Latin and Greek is: (UGC NET 2015; PGTRB 2018)
A) Same single branch
B) Latin (Italic) and Greek (Hellenic) are different branches
C) Both are Germanic
D) Both are Celtic
Ans: B) Latin (Italic) and Greek (Hellenic) are different branches
43. “Cognates” are words in different languages that: (SET 2016; UGC NET 2016; PGTRB 2019)
A) Have identical spelling always
B) Are borrowed recently
C) Share a common origin
D) Are always technical terms
Ans: C) Share a common origin
44. The relationship between Sanskrit “pitar” and English “father” is explained by: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2020)
A) Random similarity
B) Borrowing from Sanskrit into English
C) Common Indo–European ancestry and sound change
D) Spelling reform
Ans: C) Common Indo–European ancestry and sound change
45. Which of the following is NOT a West Germanic language? (PGTRB 2017; UGC NET 2015; SET 2018)
A) English
B) German
C) Dutch
D) Norwegian
Ans: D) Norwegian
46. The earliest stage of English (Old English) is primarily a language of: (UGC NET 2016; PGTRB 2019)
A) Romance origin
B) Germanic origin
C) Slavic origin
D) Semitic origin
Ans: B) Germanic origin
47. The term “language family” in linguistics refers to: (SET 2017; UGC NET 2018; PGTRB 2020)
A) Languages used in one country
B) A group of languages descended from a common ancestor
C) Languages with the same script
D) Languages used in science
Ans: B) A group of languages descended from a common ancestor
48. Which of the following is an Indo–European language spoken in India? (PGTRB 2018; SET 2019)
A) Tamil
B) Telugu
C) Hindi
D) Kannada
Ans: C) Hindi
49. The Indo–European family does NOT include which of the following? (UGC NET 2015; SET 2020; PGTRB 2019)
A) English
B) Persian
C) Arabic
D) Russian
Ans: C) Arabic
50. The place of English in the Indo–European family shows that it is: (PGTRB 2022; UGC NET 2019; SET 2020)
A) An isolated language
B) A purely classical language
C) A West Germanic language within the Indo–European family
D) A non-European language
Ans: C) A West Germanic language within the Indo–European family
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