NDA 2025
- Exam
- NDA
- Year
- 2025
- Subject
- General Ability
- Chapter
- English
NDA 2025 · General Ability · English
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that...
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct option from the given options, based solely on the passage. Mark your answer on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
An attempt to determine the number of languages in the world is affected by other factors. A few new languages do continue to be discovered, even these days, as unexplored regions of the world begin to be opened up. The discovery does not usually take place straight away. Often there are similarities with an already known language which make the investigators assume that what they have found is just a dialect of that language. Only after a considerable period of contact does it transpire that the speech is so different that it has to be considered a different language. It takes a language survey to establish the facts, and there are still many countries where such surveys are incomplete or have not even begun. The people may be known, but the identity of their language may not be. Because many such peoples are bilingual or multilingual, and converse with outsiders in lingua franca, it may take a while before linguists come to realize that there is an ethnic language there at all.
Which one of the following is a way to establish the discovery of a new language?
An attempt to determine the number of languages in the world is affected by other factors. A few new languages do continue to be discovered, even these days, as unexplored regions of the world begin to be opened up. The discovery does not usually take place straight away. Often there are similarities with an already known language which make the investigators assume that what they have found is just a dialect of that language. Only after a considerable period of contact does it transpire that the speech is so different that it has to be considered a different language. It takes a language survey to establish the facts, and there are still many countries where such surveys are incomplete or have not even begun. The people may be known, but the identity of their language may not be. Because many such peoples are bilingual or multilingual, and converse with outsiders in lingua franca, it may take a while before linguists come to realize that there is an ethnic language there at all.
Which one of the following is a way to establish the discovery of a new language?
Options
- ABy establishing contact over a period of time with the speakers of the language
- BBy finding the similarities of the language with other languages
- CBy comparing with the lingua franca of the region
- DBy conducting a survey of all languages of the region
Correct answer
A. By establishing contact over a period of time with the speakers of the language
Step-by-step solution
The passage states that the discovery of a new language does not happen immediately because investigators initially assume it to be a dialect due to similarities with known languages.
The passage explicitly mentions, "Only after a considerable period of contact does it transpire that the speech is so different that it has to be considered a different language."
Therefore, establishing contact over a period of time with the speakers of the language is the way to establish the discovery of a new language.
Answer: By establishing contact over a period of time with the speakers of the language
The passage explicitly mentions, "Only after a considerable period of contact does it transpire that the speech is so different that it has to be considered a different language."
Therefore, establishing contact over a period of time with the speakers of the language is the way to establish the discovery of a new language.
Answer: By establishing contact over a period of time with the speakers of the language