Language: How proficient are you in different languages?

Questions

1. What is the term for the smallest unit of meaning in a language?
   a) Phoneme
   b) Morpheme
   c) Syntax
   d) Lexeme
2. Which language is considered the oldest written language still in use today?
   a) Latin
   b) Chinese
   c) Sumerian
   d) Egyptian Hieroglyphs
3. What is the study of the structure and form of words called?
   a) Syntax
   b) Morphology
   c) Semantics
   d) Pragmatics
4. Which language has the largest number of native speakers worldwide?
   a) English
   b) Mandarin Chinese
   c) Spanish
   d) Hindi
5. What is the term for a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different?
   a) Dialect
   b) Pidgin
   c) Creole
   d) Lingua franca
6. Which of the following is an example of a tonal language?
   a) English
   b) Japanese
   c) Mandarin Chinese
   d) Arabic
7. What does the field of linguistics primarily study?
   a) Literature and poetry
   b) Language development and structure
   c) Broader cultural practices
   d) Historical events
8. Which of these is NOT a Romance language?
   a) French
   b) Italian
   c) Spanish
   d) German
9. What is the term for the process of language change over time?
   a) Language preservation
   b) Language evolution
   c) Language extinction
   d) Language revival
10. Which script is used primarily for writing the Hindi language?
    a) Latin alphabet
    b) Cyrillic script
    c) Devanagari script
    d) Arabic script

Answers

1. b) Morpheme
2. b) Chinese (specifically, Chinese characters have been used for thousands of years)
3. b) Morphology
4. b) Mandarin Chinese
5. d) Lingua franca
6. c) Mandarin Chinese
7. b) Language development and structure
8. d) German (German is a Germanic language, not Romance)
9. b) Language evolution
10. c) Devanagari script