Explore topic-wise MCQs in Master of Arts in English (M.A. English).

This section includes 151 Mcqs, each offering curated multiple-choice questions to sharpen your Master of Arts in English (M.A. English) knowledge and support exam preparation. Choose a topic below to get started.

101.

Who is the author of the essay “ Essay Upon Projects” that proposes an academy of 36 “gentlemen” to dictate English usage?

A. daniel defoe
B. jonathan swift
C. oliver goldsmith
D. john wilkins
Answer» B. jonathan swift
Discussion
102.

Who is the author of The First English Dictionary?

A. dr. johnson
B. robert cawdrey
C. john wilkins
D. thomas sheridon
Answer» C. john wilkins
Discussion
103.

The First English Dictionary “ Table Alphabeticall” was published in…..

A. 1608
B. 1700
C. 1678
D. 1604
Answer» E.
Discussion
104.

The Philological society’sNew English Dictionary on Historical Principles, begun in 1879, was eventually published under which title in 1928?

A. roget’s thesaurus
B. the king’s english
C. oxford english dictionary
D. webster’s dictionary
Answer» D. webster’s dictionary
Discussion
105.

“The Ecclesiastical History of the English People”, a key source f information about Anglo Saxon settlement is the work of ……….

A. william jones
B. venerable bede
C. king james i
D. william langland
Answer» C. king james i
Discussion
106.

Which Anglo- Irish writer proposed the creation of an English Academy to regulate English Usage and “ascertain” the language?

A. jonathan swift
B. samuel johnson
C. dryden
D. oliver goldsmith
Answer» B. samuel johnson
Discussion
107.

During the Middle English period, many words were borrowed from which two languages?

A. celtic and old norse
B. latin and french
C. urdu and iroquoian
D. spanish and latin
Answer» C. urdu and iroquoian
Discussion
108.

Around how many words did Shakespeare invent?

A. 20.000
B. 9, 000
C. 10,000
D. 8000
Answer» B. 9, 000
Discussion
109.

Which f the following words might be of Vicking Descent?

A. skate
B. crabby
C. rate
D. a and b
Answer» E.
Discussion
110.

Who of the following announced that many languages came from one old base language?

A. sir william jones
B. sassetti
C. jacob grimm
D. joseph greenberg
Answer» B. sassetti
Discussion
111.

What was the second earliest form of language seen on earth?

A. cave drawings
B. cuneiform
C. english
D. indo- european
Answer» C. english
Discussion
112.

Who is the author of “ The British Grammar”?

A. robert lowth
B. james buchanan
C. loughton
D. swift
Answer» C. loughton
Discussion
113.

Who is the author of the book “Practical Grammar of the English Tongue”

A. william jones
B. werner
C. dr. johnson
D. william loughton
Answer» E.
Discussion
114.

“The Rudiment of English Grammar” was written by………

A. joseph priestley
B. william loughton
C. werner
D. dr. johnson
Answer» B. william loughton
Discussion
115.

Who is the author of “ A Dictionary of the English Language?

A. jonson
B. dr. johnson
C. swift
D. king james
Answer» C. swift
Discussion
116.

Dr. Jonhson’s “ A Dictionary of the English Language” was published in ………

A. 1765
B. 1766
C. 1755
D. 1789
Answer» D. 1789
Discussion
117.

“ A proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue” is the title of the letter by ………….

A. swift
B. dryden
C. tennyson
D. dr. johnson
Answer» B. dryden
Discussion
118.

Who defined ascertainment as a “settled rule, an established standard.”

A. dryden
B. tennyson
C. swift
D. dr. johnson
Answer» E.
Discussion
119.

in the 18th century the need for standardization and regulation of English was summed up in the word………..

A. standardization
B. addition
C. ascertainment
D. regularization
Answer» D. regularization
Discussion
120.

“ How barbarously we yet write and speak. Your lordship knows, and I am sufficiently sensible in my own English” Whose words are these?

A. tennyson
B. dryden
C. johnson
D. wordsworth
Answer» C. johnson
Discussion
121.

The New English Period has been known as……………

A. leveled inflections
B. lost inflection
C. less inflection
D. full inflection
Answer» C. less inflection
Discussion
122.

The Middle English Period has been called the period of ……………

A. leveled inflections
B. lost inflection
C. less inflection
D. full inflection
Answer» B. lost inflection
Discussion
123.

The Old English Period has been called the period of …………

A. leveled inflections
B. lost inflection
C. less inflection
D. full inflection
Answer» E.
Discussion
124.

The remarkable changes in the pronunciation of vowels which took place during the transition from Middle English to Modern English are commonly referred to as the ………

A. great vowel shift
B. consonant shift
C. addition
D. mutation
Answer» B. consonant shift
Discussion
125.

Which dialect was used by William Caxton for printing ?

A. west midland
B. east midland
C. kentish
D. central midland
Answer» C. kentish
Discussion
126.

Printing was introduced into England in 1476 by …………….

A. william bailey
B. coverdale
C. william caxton
D. william jones
Answer» D. william jones
Discussion
127.

“ After reading St. Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews, Homer and Virgil are disgustingly tame to me Milton himself barely tolerable” Who said these words?

A. tennyson
B. coleridge
C. wordsworth
D. arnold
Answer» C. wordsworth
Discussion
128.

The vocabulary of the authorized version of the Bible adopted mainly from…..

A. kentish
B. latin
C. french
D. anglo saxon
Answer» E.
Discussion
129.

The authorized version of Bible was made according to the suggestions of ……….

A. coverdale
B. dr johnson
C. king james i
D. king james ii
Answer» D. king james ii
Discussion
130.

The history of the English Bible begins with the work of …………..in 1526

A. tyndale
B. purvey
C. coverdale
D. king james
Answer» E.
Discussion
131.

………….had translated the Bible in 1588

A. king james
B. coverdale
C. tyndale
D. purvey
Answer» E.
Discussion
132.

Authorized version of Bible was published in…………

A. 1600
B. 1611
C. 1612
D. 1687
Answer» C. 1612
Discussion
133.

The Anglican Prayer Book was first issued in………….

A. 1456
B. 1540
C. 1549
D. 1500
Answer» D. 1500
Discussion
134.

The term Inkhorn term refers to………..words and expressions borrowed indiscriminately from the classical languages

A. french
B. latin
C. german
D. west saxon
Answer» C. german
Discussion
135.

The influence of Renaissance is most clearly seen in the introduction of a large number of …….. and …………… words into English during the early modern English period.

A. greek and latin
B. french and latin
C. greek and german
D. german and latin
Answer» B. french and latin
Discussion
136.

“ It is melancholy to think what English dinner table would have been like had there been no Norman Conquest” Whose words are these

A. chomsky
B. f t wood
C. a c baugh
D. macaulay
Answer» D. macaulay
Discussion
137.

During the Middle English period English came under the strong influence of the ………..language.

A. latin
B. french
C. german
D. greek
Answer» C. german
Discussion
138.

Identify a word from French language which is common in usage.

A. ox
B. calf
C. sheep
D. beef
Answer» E.
Discussion
139.

The dialect of Middle English in which Chaucer wrote his poems

A. east midland
B. west midland
C. south midland
D. central midland
Answer» B. west midland
Discussion
140.

Which among are the dialects of Middle English?

A. mercian, northumbrian, northern
B. west saxon, kentish, east midland
C. northern, the midland, the southern
D. kentish, midland, mercian
Answer» D. kentish, midland, mercian
Discussion
141.

…………was the dialect of the Jutes who were the earliest settlers in Britain

A. kentish
B. mercian
C. west saxon
D. northumbrian
Answer» B. mercian
Discussion
142.

The term applied to certain changes in vowel in accented syllables owing to the influence of neighbouring sounds

A. umlaut or mutation
B. ablaut
C. consonant shift
D. vowel shift
Answer» B. ablaut
Discussion
143.

Beowulf was written in ………..dialect

A. mercian
B. west saxon
C. kentish
D. northumbrian
Answer» C. kentish
Discussion
144.

Most of the important literary works of the Old English period were written in the ………. dialect

A. mercian
B. kentish
C. northumbrian
D. west saxon
Answer» E.
Discussion
145.

……………is the last branch of Indo European languages to appear in written form.

A. latvian
B. danish
C. albanian
D. lithuvanian
Answer» D. lithuvanian
Discussion
146.

Insular celtic flourished in………….

A. england
B. ireland
C. germany
D. france
Answer» C. germany
Discussion
147.

In which language most of the ancient Greek poetry and prose were written?

A. mycenaean
B. greek
C. attic
D. indic
Answer» D. indic
Discussion
148.

The earliest surviving written evidence of a Greek language is………….

A. mycenaean
B. avestan
C. indic
D. germanic
Answer» B. avestan
Discussion
149.

……………..is the language that forms part f the Iranian group

A. avestan
B. english
C. dutch
D. german
Answer» B. english
Discussion
150.

The earliest possible end of Proto- Indo- European linguistic unity is believed to be around

A. 3300 b c e
B. 3400 bce
C. 3000 bce
D. 4000 bce
Answer» C. 3000 bce
Discussion