General Awareness ยท Civics Polity

Indian and Sri Lankan Languages

3,062 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 Dravidian language is spoken in the central districts of Andhra Pradesh and is closely related to Kannada?

  1. Badaga

  2. Kota

  3. Toda

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

Kota is a Dravidian language spoken by the Kota people, an indigenous community primarily residing in the central districts of Andhra Pradesh. It is closely related to Kannada and shares many similarities in vocabulary and grammar.

Multiple choice

Which Dravidian language is spoken in the northern districts of Karnataka and is closely related to Marathi?

  1. Badaga

  2. Kota

  3. Toda

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

Badaga is a Dravidian language spoken by the Badaga people, an ethnic group primarily residing in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu. It is closely related to Marathi and shares many similarities in vocabulary and grammar.

Multiple choice

Which Dravidian language is spoken in the southern districts of Karnataka and is closely related to Malayalam?

  1. Badaga

  2. Kota

  3. Toda

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

Irula is a Dravidian language spoken by the Irula people, an indigenous community primarily residing in the southern districts of Karnataka. It is closely related to Malayalam and shares many similarities in vocabulary and grammar.

Multiple choice

Which South Indian language has the most borrowed vocabulary?

  1. Telugu

  2. Kannada

  3. Tamil

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

Telugu has the most borrowed vocabulary among the South Indian languages, with over 15% of its vocabulary coming from other languages.

Multiple choice

What is the primary source of borrowed vocabulary in South Indian languages?

  1. Sanskrit

  2. English

  3. Persian

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

Sanskrit is the primary source of borrowed vocabulary in South Indian languages, with many words related to religion, philosophy, and literature coming from this language.

Multiple choice

Which South Indian language has borrowed the most vocabulary from English?

  1. Telugu

  2. Kannada

  3. Tamil

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

Malayalam has borrowed the most vocabulary from English among the South Indian languages, with over 10% of its vocabulary coming from this language.

Multiple choice

What is the primary source of borrowed vocabulary in Malayalam?

  1. Sanskrit

  2. English

  3. Persian

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

English is the primary source of borrowed vocabulary in Malayalam, with many words related to technology, science, and business coming from this language.

Multiple choice

Which South Indian language has borrowed the most vocabulary from Persian?

  1. Telugu

  2. Kannada

  3. Tamil

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

Kannada has borrowed the most vocabulary from Persian among the South Indian languages, with over 5% of its vocabulary coming from this language.

Multiple choice

What is the primary source of borrowed vocabulary in Kannada?

  1. Sanskrit

  2. English

  3. Persian

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

Persian is the primary source of borrowed vocabulary in Kannada, with many words related to administration, military, and culture coming from this language.

Multiple choice

Which South Indian language has borrowed the most vocabulary from Arabic?

  1. Telugu

  2. Kannada

  3. Tamil

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

Tamil has borrowed the most vocabulary from Arabic among the South Indian languages, with over 5% of its vocabulary coming from this language.

Multiple choice

What is the primary source of borrowed vocabulary in Tamil?

  1. Sanskrit

  2. English

  3. Persian

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

Arabic is the primary source of borrowed vocabulary in Tamil, with many words related to religion, trade, and navigation coming from this language.

Multiple choice

Which South Indian language has the least borrowed vocabulary?

  1. Telugu

  2. Kannada

  3. Tamil

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

Telugu has the least borrowed vocabulary among the South Indian languages, with only about 10% of its vocabulary coming from other languages.

Multiple choice

What is the primary source of borrowed vocabulary in Telugu?

  1. Sanskrit

  2. English

  3. Persian

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

Sanskrit is the primary source of borrowed vocabulary in Telugu, with many words related to religion, philosophy, and literature coming from this language.

Multiple choice

Which South Indian language has the most unique vocabulary?

  1. Telugu

  2. Kannada

  3. Tamil

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

Tamil has the most unique vocabulary among the South Indian languages, with over 80% of its vocabulary being unique to the language.

Multiple choice

What is the primary source of unique vocabulary in Tamil?

  1. Sanskrit

  2. English

  3. Persian

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

The primary source of unique vocabulary in Tamil is the Dravidian languages, which are a family of languages spoken in South India and Sri Lanka.