History
Historical Writing Systems
1,718 Questions
Historical writing systems represent the early methods of human communication and record keeping. This topic covers ancient scripts like Cuneiform, Brahmi, and Egyptian hieroglyphs, along with their historical usage. Knowledge of these scripts is essential for history and art culture preparation.
Ancient Indian scriptsCuneiform writingEgyptian hieroglyphsPhoenician alphabetGupta script
Historical Writing Systems Questions
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Persian
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Dravidian
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Sanskrit
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Undeciphered
D
Correct answer
Explanation
The Indus script remains undeciphered despite numerous attempts by scholars. While some researchers propose connections to Dravidian or other languages, none have been conclusively proven. The script consists of pictographic symbols whose meaning and language affiliation remain unknown.
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Leet
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Rebus
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Phoneme
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Morpheme
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Verlan
A
Correct answer
Explanation
The term leet is derived from the word elite. The leet alphabet is a specialised form of symbolic writing.
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Metalanguage
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Constructed language
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Pasigraphy
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Universal grammar
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Knowledge representation and reasoning
C
Correct answer
Explanation
A pasigraphy is a writing system where each written symbol represents a concept.
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Devanagari
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Cuneiform
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Latin
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ISCII
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Calligraphy
B
Correct answer
Explanation
Cuneiform script is one of the earliest systems of writing, distinguished by its wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.
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Only 1
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Only 2
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Both of these
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Neither of these
C
Correct answer
Explanation
In 326 BC, Alexander (a Greek) invaded India. The Greek conquest unveiled India for the first time to the Western world and established contact between the people of both regions. The introduction of new scripts — Aramaic, Kharoshti and the alphabet style Yavanani by Panini— can be traced to Greek source.
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These are writings engraved on hard surfaces, stones pottery and pillars.
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They are virtually permanent records.
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They don’t carry any date.
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They usually record achievements and exploits of kings.
C
Correct answer
Explanation
Some of the inscriptions do carry dates as well.
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a family of geometrical shapes
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a combination of both pictures and geometrical shapes
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a family of quasi-pictographic writings
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None of these
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Pali
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Sanskrit
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Avadhi
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Tamil
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Sanskrit
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Pali
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Prakrit
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Brahmi
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Persian
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Roman
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Devnagari
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Sanskriti
C
Correct answer
Explanation
Hindi is written in the Devanagari script, which is also used for several other Indian languages including Sanskrit, Marathi, and Nepali. Devanagari is an abugida (alphasyllabary) written from left to right and is characterized by the horizontal line running along the top of letters. Persian uses Arabic script, Roman is Latin script, and 'Sanskriti' is not a script but a word meaning culture.
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Pictographic
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Hieroglyphic
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Ideographic
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none of these
B
Correct answer
Explanation
The Chinese writing system is ideographic, where characters represent ideas or concepts rather than just sounds. Each character typically carries meaning and can stand alone as a word. This distinguishes Chinese from purely phonographic or alphabetic scripts where symbols primarily represent speech sounds. While early Chinese characters had pictographic origins, the modern system is fundamentally ideographic.
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Pakrit
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Sanskrit
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Pali
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Brahmi
B
Correct answer
Explanation
Kalidasa, the greatest poet and dramatist of Classical Sanskrit, composed all his works in Sanskrit. His famous works include Abhijnanasakuntalam, Meghaduta, and Raghuvamsa.
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Only a
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Only a and b
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Only a, b and d
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Only b, c and d
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Only d
E
Correct answer
Explanation
This is the correct option. Sanskrit was the language meant almost exclusively for the priests and elites.
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Only a
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Only a and b
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Only b
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Only b and c
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Only a and c
D
Correct answer
Explanation
This is the correct option. Aramaic and Greek scripts were used for inscriptions in Afghanistan.
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Mori
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Devanagari
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Brahmi
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Kharosti
C
Correct answer
Explanation
The Brahmi script is the earliest known Indian writing system, dating back to the 3rd century BCE during the Mauryan period. It was used to write Ashokan edicts and is the ancestor of most modern Indian scripts. Mori is not a recognized script, Devanagari evolved later, and Kharosti was used in northwest India but not the earliest.