Yet More Languages and Countries Quiz

Answer: Persian

Persian (also known as Farsi, Iranian, or Iranian Persian) is the native language of 64% of the population, and is the language most commonly used in government, education, and the media. There are over 70 languages spoken in Iran, making it a linguistically diverse nation, and Persian is the lingua franca.

Answer: Laos

Thai and Lao are closely-related languages of the Tai-Kadai language family. Both countries are linguistically diverse and the national languages serve as the lingua franca.

Thai and Lao belong to the Tai-Kadai family of languages. The national languages of nearby countries are from unrelated language families: China and Myanmar (Sino-Tibetan), Cambodia and Vietnam (Austro-Asiatic), and Malaysia (Austronesian).

Answer: False

English is the most widely spoken language in Ireland, and is a national language, alongside Irish. Irish is spoken as a native language by less than 1% of the population, but is taught in schools and, although most of the population can't really speak it, is an important symbol of national identity.

Answer: Arabic

Pashto, Dari and Uzbek are all spoken by large communities in Afghanistan (over 10% of the population). There are over 40 languages spoken in Afghanistan. Dari and Pashto have official status. Arabic is spoken as a native language by far less than 1% of the population, although it is an important language in the religious sphere.

Dari is closely related to Persian, and could be considered a dialect of Persian (the same is true of Tajik, the language of neighboring Tajikistan).

Answer: English

English is the de facto national language of both Dominica and Grenada, an inheritance from their history as British colonies. In Grenada, Grenadian Creole English is the native language of most people, and is the language of national identity. In Dominica, English exists alongside Creole English and Creole French (an artifact of the island's mixed colonial past), and Creole French is the de facto language of national identity, although it has no official status.

Answer: Fijian Hindi

Many immigrants were brought to Fiji from India during the colonial era as indentured laborers to work on the sugar cane plantations (Indian workers arrived 1879-1920), and their descendants still maintain a unique language and culture today. Fijian Hindi is actually based the Awadhi language, mixed with Bhojpuri, and has minimal intelligibility with Indian Hindi.

Answer: Quechua

Quechua is very much alive, with several million monolingual speakers (who don't speak Spanish). There are many dialects, which are generally mutually intelligible. Unfortunately, the different dialects cannot agree upon a common spelling system, so it is still largely an unwritten language. Of all native American languages, it has the most speakers, and is still growing in numbers.

Answer: Paraguay

Guaraní is spoken by almost all Paraguayans (who also speak Spanish, making Paraguay a largely bilingual nation). It is a national language, and is used in education. Guaraní is also spoken in parts of Bolivia, Chile, Brazil and Argentina, although it does not have official status in those nations.

Answer: Afghanistan

There are eight Mongol languages spoken in China, some quite far from the Mongol homeland, and one Mongol language spoken in Russia (though close to the Mongolian border). However, the most interesting remnant of the Mongol expansion is the Mogholi language of Afghanistan, which has survived to this day. Although there may be no native speakers left, the language is still known by the Mogholi community in Afghanistan, which numbers several thousand in two villages near Herat.

An interesting aspect of the Mongol Empire was that, although they required complete submission from the regions they conquered, they allowed people to maintain their language and religion. Consequently, they left little lasting linguistic or cultural impact on the areas they once controlled.

Answer: Spanish

Romanian is a Romance language, brought to what was then Dacia by the Romans (hence the name Romanian). The national language of neighboring Moldova, Moldovan, is a dialect of Romanian. As a Romance language, Romanian is most closely related to the other Romance languages, such as Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Romansh and Catalan (among others).

The other languages listed are all Indo-European, and thus distantly related to Romanian, but from different branches of Indo-European: Bulgarian is in the Slavic branch, Greek is in its own branch, and Romany, the language of the "Gypsies", is an Indo-Iranian language. All these languages (among others) are found in the Balkans.