General Knowledge MCQs
Topic Notes: General Knowledge
MCQs and preparation resources for competitive exams, covering important concepts, past papers, and detailed explanations.
Plato
- Biography: Ancient Greek philosopher (427–347 BCE), student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, founder of the Academy in Athens.
- Important Ideas:
- Theory of Forms
- Philosopher-King
- Ideal State
25451
Which of the following European languages is an **Uralic** language?
Answer:
Finnish
Finnish, along with Estonian and Hungarian, belongs to the Uralic language family, making them linguistically distinct from the surrounding Indo-European languages like German, French, and Greek.
25452
Which one of these languages is NOT an official language of the United Nations?
Answer:
Portuguese
The six official languages of the UN are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Despite being a major world language, Portuguese is not officially recognized by the UN.
25453
The concept of a **pidgin** language refers to:
Answer:
A simplified language used for communication between groups who speak different native languages.
A pidgin is a simplified means of linguistic communication developed spontaneously. If a pidgin is learned as a native language by a new generation of speakers, it develops into a more complex **creole** language.
25454
Which language uses the **Hangul** writing system?
Answer:
Korean
Hangul is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is celebrated for its highly logical and systematic design, having been invented in the 15th century.
25455
The majority of languages spoken in Sub-Saharan Africa belong to which language family?
Answer:
Niger-Congo
The Niger-Congo language family, which includes languages like Swahili, Yoruba, Igbo, and Zulu, covers the majority of the landmass of Sub-Saharan Africa and is the largest language family in the world in terms of the number of distinct languages.
25456
Which language is considered a **language isolate**, meaning it has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other known language?
Answer:
Basque
Basque is spoken in the region straddling the border between France and Spain. Unlike the other options (Hungarian/Finnish are Uralic; Sanskrit is Indo-European), Basque has no known linguistic relatives, making it a classic example of a language isolate.
25457
What is the official language of Brazil, making it the most populous country to speak this language?
Answer:
Portuguese
Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, a legacy of the country's colonization. Due to Brazil's large population, it has significantly more native Portuguese speakers than Portugal itself.
25458
Which major language is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family?
Answer:
Arabic
Arabic, along with Hebrew and Amharic, belongs to the Semitic branch, which originated in the Middle East. Turkish is a Turkic language, Farsi is Indo-Iranian, and Swahili is a Bantu (Niger-Congo) language.
25459
The Devanagari script is primarily used to write which two major South Asian languages?
Answer:
Hindi and Nepali
Devanagari is an abugida writing system used widely in the Indian subcontinent. It is the official script for both Hindi (the main official language of India) and Nepali (the official language of Nepal).
25460
Which language has the highest number of **total speakers** (native and non-native combined) worldwide?
Answer:
English
While Mandarin has the most native speakers, English holds the title for the largest number of total speakers (including second-language users), due to its status as the primary global language of business, science, and the internet.