Languages Trivia

61. The Amele language of Papua New Guinea has the most forms of the verb. How many are there?

From Quiz Languages of the World

Answer: 70,000

The Amele language is the most verbally complex language on the planet. With 69,000 finite and 960 non-finite verb forms, Amele is not even approached by languages like English, which possesses just three finite and two non-finite forms, or Chinese, which has just one form for all verbs.

From Quiz A World of Languages

Answer: Greek

From Quiz Bahasa Indonesia

Answer: Nama Saya

From Quiz Guess That Language: Matthew 7:12

Answer: French

From Quiz More Random Language Questions!

Answer: Somalia

From Quiz Random World Languages

Answer: Ido

Ido is supposed to be a simplified version of Esperanto, but unfortunately all languages are complex. Some learners report that Ido is equally difficult to learn. The name 'Ido' means 'offspring'.

From Quiz Foreign Words and Phrases

Answer: A good cat deserves a good rat

French, of course

From Quiz Foreignisms

Answer: Nothing is made from nothing

From Quiz Putting the Cat Among the Pigeons

Answer: Cat

The Japanese phrase, "Neko wo Kaburu" translates as "put a cat over one's head" and is used to describe someone pretending to be someone they are not or putting on airs. Cats look cute, lovable and innocent, but are often sneaky creatures, far from innocent who can manipulate you into doing their bidding. Seems like a very apt phrase to me.

From Quiz Country Names in their Native Languages

Answer: Lebanon

The country owes its name to Mount Lebanon, which in turn, has its roots in the Phoenician "lbn", meaning "white". It is believed that this symbolized the white snow at the peak of the mountains.

From Quiz Swahili and "The Lion King"

Answer: Foolish

The warthog Pumbaa is kind-hearted and friendly but not very intelligent. His best friend is a meerkat named Timon. (Contributed by GLitsmyt)

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 8th Floor

Answer: black

"Zwart" is Dutch for black, as is "preto" in Portuguese, "musta" in Finnish, "negru" in Romanian, "'aswad" in Arabic, "dudu" in Yoruban, and "pango" in Maori. The Modern English word black derives through the Old English "blaek" from the Old Norse "blakkr" all of which relate to something being burnt and therefor charred black. The use of black in relation to a cup of coffee without pollutants dates from 1796. The Latin is "niger."

From Quiz Mai, Oh Mai

Answer: When one door closes, another opens

Figurative meaning: close to "every cloud has a silver lining". Circumstances that look like the end of something good can often turn out to be the beginning of something else that's as good or better. You must put in the work of recognizing the new opportunities.

From Quiz The English Language Let Me Down

Answer: 1974

Ned Maddrell was a fisherman born in the mid 1870s who had spoken Manx all his life; he apparently learned it from his great-aunt. As a teenager, when he first went to sea, he kept up his Manx by talking to Gaelic speakers; the village he came from, Cregneash, was full of Manx speakers, but very few people spoke it in the more urban areas. Eamon de Valera, the Taoiseach of Ireland, met Maddrell on visiting the Isle of Man in 1947 and sent over a team from the Irish Folklore Commission to record Maddrell talking, in the hope of preserving the language. However, the Manx language did not completely die with Maddrell; he taught the language to younger citizens, and schools began to teach the language, with the Manx Language Unit being formed in 1992. UNESCO declared the Manx language extinct in 2000, but later changed its status to Critically Endangered, due to the fact that there were still several Manx speakers on the Isle of Man. According to the 2011 census, approximately 2.27% of the population had some knowledge of Manx.

From Quiz Swahili - The Language of the Coast

Answer: Arabic

The name Swahili comes from the Arabic "sawahil", meaning "of the coast". The language's original name was Kingozi, but the influence of Arab traders led to a large influx of Arabic vocabulary, as well as the use of Arabic script - which lasted until the mid-19th century, when the Roman alphabet was adopted. For a time, Swahili was thought to be a dialect of Arabic, or a mixture of Arabic and Bantu. However, the presence of Arabic loanwords is common to most languages spoken in Muslim countries, and today most experts agree that Swahili is a Bantu language. Though the earliest written document in Swahili (an epic poem) dates from the early 18th century, the language is thought by some to be much older, possibly predating the arrival of Arab explorers.

From Quiz Whimsical Wildlife Whatchamacallits!

Answer: chimpanzé

All of these are French words for animals, but only the chimpanzee (chimpanzé) lacks a long tail and is a primate. I imagine any self-respecting chimp would love to have Harry Chapin's funny song "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" on a playlist! "Lion" is French for "lion". "Perroquet" is French for "parrot". "Singe capucin" is French for "capuchin monkey".

From Quiz Multilingual Countries

Answer: Eleven

Throughout history, a number of cultures have inhabited the area that is now South Africa. The indigenous languages include Swazi and Zulu, with other languages, like Xhosa, spoken locally. Afrikaans was developed by French, Dutch, and German settlers who began to arrive in the 17th century. In 1795, the Dutch Cape Colony was seized by the British, which was when English (another official language) was introduced to the area.

From Quiz Hot in Any Language

Answer: Swahili

Kenya has a booming (or is that blooming?) flower industry - so much so that it has been called "the flower garden of Europe". It is the third largest producer of cut flowers in the world, and its exports account for around 35% of flowers sold in the European Union. In fact, the Netherlands sources two-thirds of all its cut flowers from Kenya. The industry contributes more than a whopping 25% to Kenya's GDP. Berber is spoken only in Morocco and Algeria, Somali is the language of Somalia, and Tigrinya is spoken in Eritrea. Swahili, or Kiswahili as it is also known, is an official language in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. This question bloomed in the fertile mind of Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid.

From Quiz What in the World...?

Answer: Chto

'Chto famili' would mean 'what is the family name (surname)'. Voda is water and vodka is apparently a diminutive of water due to its likeness. Gorod/grad means city like Stalingrad. Ia or Ya means "I".

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 7th Floor

Answer: Silver

Asími is Greek for silver, as is plata in Spanish, prata in Portuguese, fidda in Maltese, argent in French and srebro in Polish. The modern English word silver is related rather directly to the Old Saxon silvbar, the Old Norse silfr, and the Dutch zilver. The Latin argentum explains the scientific abbreviation for the chemical silver: Ag.

From Quiz Everybody Speaks a Little Yiddish

Answer: Lox

Lobster Thermidor or Crab Mayonnaise? You're kidding, right? Kosher law forbids shellfish. Same goes for a Reuben, because it is made with both meat and cheese and it is forbidden to consume meat and dairy products in the same dish. That leaves lox (from the German 'lachs' meaning 'salmon'). Lox (rhymes with fox) is thinly sliced smoked salmon, usually served on a plain or toasted bagel thickly spread with cream cheese. It is to die for!

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 6th Floor

Answer: egg

Jaje is the Bosnian word for egg, as is vejce in Czech, muna in Finnish, tojás in Hungarian, uovo in Italian and huevo in Spanish. Think: huevos rancheros. The modern English word egg entered English from the Old Norse in the 14th Century. It won out over other words derived from the Latin ovum. The description of a person as a "bad egg" dates only from the mid-19th Century.

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 5th Floor

Answer: Parrot

Papegaai is the Dutch word for parrot, as it perroquet in French, Papagei in German, papuga in Polish, loro in Spanish and jako in Haitian Creole. Parrots are sometimes called psittacines because they are of the order Psittaciformes. The English word parrot appears in the early 16th Century but is of disputed origin, possibly from a Middle French tropical dialect which used the word perrot.

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 4th Floor

Answer: Mirror

Spiegel is the Dutch word for mirror, as is specchio in Italian, mera in Maltese, lustro in Polish, ogledalo in Slovenian and drych in Welsh. The Modern English noun mirror derived from the Old French mireoir in the 13th Century or before. The French derived from the Vulgar Latin mirare meaning "to look at." Compare the German to the Danish spejl and the Swedish spegel. The compound noun "mirror ball" arose in about 1968 and was made more popular in the US by "Dancing with the Stars" on television.

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 3rd Floor

Answer: Birthday

Ulang tahun in Indonesian means birthday, as does urtebetetzea in Basque, narozeniny in Czech, verjaardag in Dutch, Geburtstag in German, gimimo diena in Lithuanian, urodziny in Polish and verjaarsdag in Afrikaans. The Modern English birthday is a compound noun constructed in the late 14th Century from words meaning birth and day. The Old English is byrddæg. Another similar compound noun, birthnight, appears in around 1620.

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 2nd Floor

Answer: Shoes

Cipele means shoes in Bosnian, as does boty in Czech, chaussures in French, kurpes in Latvian, sko in Norwegian, obuwie in Polish, esgidiau in Welsh and kasut in Malay. The Old English scoh is related to the Dutch schoen and the German Schuh, which are related to the Old Norse skor, the Danish and Swedish sko and the Gothic skoh.

From Quiz Climbing the Tower of Babel, 1st Floor

Answer: Fourteen

Veertien means fourteen in Dutch, as does quatorze in French, quattordici in Italian, paisprezece in Romanian and labing-apat in Filipino. The English word fourteen (or a version of it) has been part of the language since the beginning of the 14th Century. It derives from the Old English feowertyne which suggests the combination of four and ten. Compare this with the Old High German fiorzehan and the modern German vierzehn.

From Quiz Official Languages of the World

Answer: Bolivia

Bolivia set a world record with this declaration by agreeing that all their indigenous languages, including some that were extinct, were to be official. These were declared along with commonly spoken Spanish, Quecha and Aymara.

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Last Updated Oct 25 2025 5:44 AM

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