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 of the following South Indian languages has the third fewest dialects?

  1. Malayalam

  2. Tamil

  3. Tulu

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

Malayalam has the third fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with four main dialects: the Northern dialect, the Central dialect, the Southern dialect, and the Travancore dialect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following South Indian languages has the fourth fewest dialects?

  1. Tamil

  2. Tulu

  3. Kodava

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

Tamil has the fourth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with five main dialects: the Chennai dialect, the Madurai dialect, the Coimbatore dialect, the Tirunelveli dialect, and the Kanyakumari dialect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following South Indian languages has the fifth fewest dialects?

  1. Tulu

  2. Kodava

  3. Beary

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

Tulu has the fifth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with six main dialects: the Mangalore dialect, the Udupi dialect, the Kasaragod dialect, the Dakshina Kannada dialect, the Uttara Kannada dialect, and the Shivamogga dialect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following South Indian languages has the sixth fewest dialects?

  1. Kodava

  2. Beary

  3. Konkani

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

Kodava has the sixth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with seven main dialects: the Mercara dialect, the Virajpet dialect, the Somwarpet dialect, the Madikeri dialect, the Kushalnagar dialect, the Gonikoppal dialect, and the Hudikeri dialect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following South Indian languages has the seventh fewest dialects?

  1. Beary

  2. Konkani

  3. Marathi

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

Beary has the seventh fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with eight main dialects: the Mangalore dialect, the Udupi dialect, the Kasaragod dialect, the Dakshina Kannada dialect, the Uttara Kannada dialect, the Shivamogga dialect, the Hassan dialect, and the Chikmagalur dialect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following South Indian languages has the eighth fewest dialects?

  1. Konkani

  2. Marathi

  3. Sindhi

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

Konkani has the eighth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with nine main dialects: the Mangalore dialect, the Udupi dialect, the Kasaragod dialect, the Dakshina Kannada dialect, the Uttara Kannada dialect, the Shivamogga dialect, the Hassan dialect, the Chikmagalur dialect, and the Goa dialect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following South Indian languages has the ninth fewest dialects?

  1. Marathi

  2. Sindhi

  3. Gujarati

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

Marathi has the ninth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with ten main dialects: the Mumbai dialect, the Pune dialect, the Nagpur dialect, the Aurangabad dialect, the Amravati dialect, the Kolhapur dialect, the Sangli dialect, the Solapur dialect, the Nashik dialect, and the Ahmednagar dialect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following South Indian languages has the tenth fewest dialects?

  1. Sindhi

  2. Gujarati

  3. Rajasthani

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

Sindhi has the tenth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with eleven main dialects: the Karachi dialect, the Hyderabad dialect, the Mirpur Khas dialect, the Sukkur dialect, the Larkana dialect, the Shikarpur dialect, the Jacobabad dialect, the Dadu dialect, the Nawabshah dialect, the Sanghar dialect, and the Tharparkar dialect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following South Indian languages has the fourteenth fewest dialects?

  1. Punjabi

  2. Kashmiri

  3. Dogri

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

Punjabi has the fourteenth fewest dialects among the major South Indian languages, with fifteen main dialects: the Amritsar dialect, the Jalandhar dialect, the Ludhiana dialect, the Patiala dialect, the Bathinda dialect, the Firozpur dialect, the Moga dialect, the Faridkot dialect, the Muktsar dialect, the Fazilka dialect, the Sangrur dialect, the Barnala dialect, the Mansa dialect, the Bathinda dialect, and the Malerkotla dialect.

Multiple choice

What was the primary language of instruction at Vikramshila University?

  1. Sanskrit

  2. Pali

  3. Prakrit

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The primary language of instruction at Vikramshila University was Sanskrit.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is a dialect of Telugu?

  1. Rayalaseema

  2. Telangana

  3. Coastal Andhra

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Rayalaseema, Telangana, and Coastal Andhra are the three major dialects of Telugu.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is a variety of Telugu?

  1. Lambadi

  2. Chenchu

  3. Savara

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Lambadi, Chenchu, and Savara are all varieties of Telugu.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is a characteristic of the Rayalaseema dialect of Telugu?

  1. The use of the retroflex 'l' sound

  2. The use of the 'sh' sound instead of the 's' sound

  3. The use of the 'v' sound instead of the 'b' sound

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The use of the retroflex 'l' sound is a characteristic of the Rayalaseema dialect of Telugu.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is a characteristic of the Telangana dialect of Telugu?

  1. The use of the 'sh' sound instead of the 's' sound

  2. The use of the 'v' sound instead of the 'b' sound

  3. The use of the 'ch' sound instead of the 'c' sound

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The use of the 'sh' sound instead of the 's' sound is a characteristic of the Telangana dialect of Telugu.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is a characteristic of the Coastal Andhra dialect of Telugu?

  1. The use of the 'v' sound instead of the 'b' sound

  2. The use of the 'ch' sound instead of the 'c' sound

  3. The use of the 'j' sound instead of the 'z' sound

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The use of the 'v' sound instead of the 'b' sound is a characteristic of the Coastal Andhra dialect of Telugu.