General Awareness ยท Civics Polity

Indian and Sri Lankan Languages

2,991 Questions

Indian and Sri Lankan languages cover various linguistic families, regional dialects, and official state languages. A significant focus is placed on Dravidian languages and their distinctive scripts. Strengthen your general awareness of regional language distribution for upcoming tests.

Dravidian language familyOfficial state languagesRegional Indian dialectsSri Lankan languagesLinguistic communities

Indian and Sri Lankan Languages Questions

Multiple choice

Which Indian language is used in religious ceremonies and rituals by the Indian diaspora in Vietnam?

  1. Hindi

  2. Tamil

  3. Punjabi

  4. Gujarati
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Tamil is the primary language used in religious ceremonies and rituals by the Indian diaspora in Vietnam, particularly among the Tamil-speaking community, which has a strong cultural and religious connection to India.

Multiple choice

Which Dravidian language is spoken by the largest number of people?

  1. Tamil

  2. Telugu

  3. Kannada

  4. Malayalam
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Telugu is the most widely spoken Dravidian language, with over 80 million speakers primarily located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.

Multiple choice

In Dravidian languages, case marking is primarily expressed through:

  1. Postpositions

  2. Prepositions

  3. Infixes

  4. Tone
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Dravidian languages predominantly use postpositions to mark case relationships between nouns and other elements in a sentence.

Multiple choice

Which Dravidian language exhibits a unique phenomenon called 'vowel harmony'?

  1. Tamil

  2. Kannada

  3. Malayalam

  4. Tulu
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Tulu, spoken in the southwestern region of India, is known for its vowel harmony, where the vowels in a word or phrase tend to assimilate to a common quality.

Multiple choice

Which Dravidian language has a rich tradition of classical literature dating back to the Sangam period?

  1. Tamil

  2. Telugu

  3. Kannada

  4. Malayalam
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Tamil has a rich literary tradition, with its earliest works dating back to the Sangam period (3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE).

Multiple choice

Which Dravidian language has a unique writing system called 'Grantha'?

  1. Tamil

  2. Telugu

  3. Kannada

  4. Malayalam
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Tamil has a unique writing system called 'Grantha', which is derived from the ancient Brahmi script and has been in use for over 2,000 years.

Multiple choice

Which Dravidian language has a rich tradition of oral literature, including epic poems and folk tales?

  1. Tamil

  2. Telugu

  3. Kannada

  4. Malayalam
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Kannada has a rich tradition of oral literature, with epic poems like 'Pampa Bharata' and folk tales like 'Kathe Saritsagara' being notable examples.

Multiple choice

What is the term used for the Dravidian grammatical feature where verbs can be marked for tense, aspect, and mood?

  1. Tense marking

  2. Aspect marking

  3. Mood marking

  4. Inflection
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Dravidian languages use inflection to mark verbs for tense, aspect, and mood, indicating the time, duration, and modality of an action or event.

Multiple choice

Which Dravidian language has a unique writing system called 'Kannada script'?

  1. Tamil

  2. Telugu

  3. Kannada

  4. Malayalam
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Kannada has its own unique writing system called 'Kannada script', which is derived from the ancient Brahmi script and has been in use for over 1,000 years.

Multiple choice

What is the term used for the Dravidian grammatical feature where nouns can be marked for case, indicating their syntactic function in a sentence?

  1. Case marking

  2. Number marking

  3. Gender marking

  4. Definiteness marking
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Dravidian languages use case marking to indicate the syntactic function of nouns in a sentence, showing their relationship to other elements.

Multiple choice

Which Dravidian language has a rich tradition of classical dance forms, including Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi?

  1. Tamil

  2. Telugu

  3. Kannada

  4. Malayalam
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Telugu has a rich tradition of classical dance forms, with Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi being two prominent examples.

Multiple choice

What is the term used for the Dravidian grammatical feature where verbs can be marked for person, number, and gender?

  1. Person marking

  2. Number marking

  3. Gender marking

  4. Inflection
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Dravidian languages use inflection to mark verbs for person, number, and gender, indicating who is performing the action and its scope.

Multiple choice

The first regional novel in India was written in which language?

  1. Bengali

  2. Marathi

  3. Hindi

  4. Tamil
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The first regional novel in India was written in Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1865.

Multiple choice

Which of the following regional languages has a significant body of literature written in the Devanagari script?

  1. Marathi

  2. Gujarati

  3. Telugu

  4. Kannada
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Marathi has a significant body of literature written in the Devanagari script, including works by saints like Tukaram and Dnyaneshwar.

Multiple choice

Which of the following regional languages has a significant body of literature written in the Tamil script?

  1. Tamil

  2. Malayalam

  3. Kannada

  4. Telugu
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Tamil has a significant body of literature written in the Tamil script, including works by poets like Thiruvalluvar and Bharathiyar.