Language Evolution and Authority in Lexicography Quiz

Test your knowledge on English dictionary history, linguistic theories, and word evolution. Explore lexicography in this quiz!

#1

Who is often credited with compiling the first English dictionary?

Noah Webster
Samuel Johnson
Daniel Webster
William Shakespeare
#2

Which of the following is NOT a factor that influences language evolution?

Migration
Technology
Climate
Currency exchange rates
#3

What is the study of the historical development of words known as?

Phonetics
Semantics
Morphology
Etymology
#4

What is the term for a word or phrase that has fallen out of common use?

Antiquated
Obsolete
Archaic
Ancient
#5

Who published the influential work 'The American Language'?

Noah Webster
Samuel Johnson
H. L. Mencken
James Murray
#6

Who coined the term 'onomatopoeia'?

Noah Webster
Samuel Johnson
Homer
Aristotle
#7

What is the term for words that are spelled the same but have different meanings?

Homophones
Homographs
Synonyms
Antonyms
#8

What term describes the phenomenon where a word takes on a more negative meaning over time?

Lexicalization
Pejoration
Amelioration
Neologism
#9

What is the term for a word formed by combining parts of two or more words?

Synonym
Homophone
Portmanteau
Acronym
#10

What is the primary aim of descriptive lexicography?

To prescribe language usage
To document and analyze language as it is used
To establish language rules
To standardize language
#11

Which of the following is NOT a type of language change?

Semantic shift
Orthographic drift
Phonetic evolution
Borrowing
#12

Who is considered the father of modern linguistics?

Ferdinand de Saussure
Noam Chomsky
Edward Sapir
Benjamin Lee Whorf
#13

Which linguist proposed the idea of 'deep structure' and 'surface structure' in language?

Ferdinand de Saussure
Edward Sapir
Noam Chomsky
Leonard Bloomfield
#14

In lexicography, what is the term for a dictionary that provides the meanings of words in the order of their occurrence in a particular text?

Thesaurus
Glossary
Concordance
Lexicon
#15

Who authored the 'Oxford English Dictionary' (OED)?

James Murray
Samuel Johnson
Noah Webster
H. L. Mencken

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