1. Use the following web site to answer these questions on language http://www.krysstal.com.
Origins & History of English language
1. What are the 3 Germanic tribes that English can be traced to?
2. What is the name of the written alphabet of Old English?
3. Explain why most domestic animal names (cow, sheep) are English, yet the meats derived from them (mutton,
beef) are French?
Language families
4. List the languages Sanskrit evolved into:
5. How long ago did cousin languages develop?
6. Using Croatian and Serbian as an example, explain the differences between language and dialect.
7. What makes the Caucasian family of languages unique?
8. What language family does Arabic belong to?
9. In the last 500 years what percentage of the world's languages has disappeared?
Borrowed words
10. List the language the following words came from:
a. boondocks
b. barbeque
c. kidnap
d. voodoo
e. bankrupt
f. husband
Cockney Rhyming Slang
11. Who developed this language form?
12. What is the meaning of the following expressions AND list an example of its use:
a. dog & bone
b. bird
c. Brahms
(when you find the answer to Brahms, click on the link for more fun stuff)
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2. 13. What do the English call the following items:
a. vest
b. sneakers
c. hardware store
d. wrench
e. oatmeal
f. truck
g. diaper
Writing and Scripts
14. What was the original written script that the Ugarit alphabet came from?
15. Draw the Phoenician symbol for t.
16. Draw the Hebrew symbol for l
17. Draw the Kanarda symbol for o
18. In Hindi what do these symbols (:) mean?
Search for the answers to these questions
19. List some of the 1600 words that Shakespeare coined
20. Where did the term checkmate originate AND what was the term originally?
21. What was the original meaning of the term buxom?
22. What was the occupation of people with the surname Fuller?
23. What does the Germanic name Gilbert mean?
24. What does the Norse name Brenda mean?
25. What does the Slavic name Vera mean?
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