Literary Seminar: How Britain's History Shaped the English Language

which of these passages most strongly supports the correct answer to the question, which of these statements is best supported by the section on Middle English

"For example, the word people was spelled peple in Middle English, but the French thought it may have been traced back to Latin populus, and so they inserted the letter o, and spelled it people."

which of these passages most strongly supports the correct answer to the question, which of these statements is best supported by the text

"In addition, with the development of the printing press, spelling and grammar would become far more standardized than they had been before."

words that share a common source or history

cognate

come from a particular source

derive

the history of a word

etymology

what was said fourth

many words in Middle English were pronounced very differently from their Modern English versions

what was said first

modern English is very different from its early forms

what was said third

more than 7,000 French words are still in use in Modern English

which of these inferences is most strongly supported by the following passage (paragraph 4) although modern readers may recognize some words, Old English must be thoroughly studied to allow for the reading of literature in its original language, as these lines from Beowulf show: Da come of moreunder mist-hleopumGrendel gongan,Godes yrre baerTranslation:T then out of the marsh,under mist-covered cliffs,Grendel stalked,bearing God's wrath

possessive apostrophes did not exist in Old English

which of these statements is best supported by the text

printed words create a record that allows for consistency across a language

stand for

represent

what was said second

the arrival of William the Conqueror to England marked the beginning of the influence of French on the language

which of these statements is best supported by the section on Middle English

the grammatical irregularities of Modern English can be traced back to the melding of multiple languages

what was said fifth

the printing press was a catalyst for the standardization of English grammar

which of the following statements best explains the relationship between Modern English and English spoken in the tenth century

the two are strikingly dissimilar

become weaker or smaller in size

wane

which of these statements is most strongly supported by the following passage (paragraph 1) Today, English is a global language spoken by an estimated 1.5 billion people. Although it is a Germanic language, English shows a distinct linguistic mix. English shares many cognates with romance languages—such as animal which is a English and French cognate, or drama, which means the same thing in both English and Spanish. English is also known for its large vocabulary. How did all these new words get introduced to the English language? Why are there so many words for the same things, like cow and beef? The answer to all of these questions lies in Britain's history

the tremendous range of English vocabulary is easily understood when examining British history

what is most closely the meaning of the word wane as it appears in the passage below (paragraph 12) eventually, French rule in England would wane, and English would again become the dominant language at all levels of society. In addition, with the development of the printing press, spelling and grammar would become far more standardized than they had been before. Not long after, English began to develop into what is known as Early Modern English, the language of Shakespeare. These and other developments led to the language we are familiar with today, one of the the most commonly spoken languages in the world, English

verb... become weaker or smaller in size