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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
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Explanation Question #3

Based on the passage, a likely reason why English has not been reclassified as a Romance language is that the core of the language, its grammar and syntax, is still Germanic.

The passage mentions that English belongs to the Germanic language family, and its grammatical and syntactical rules reflect this. While a large part of the English vocabulary is of Latin origin due to the influence of Old French and Latin during the Norman Invasion, the fundamental structure of English, including its grammar and syntax, remains rooted in the Germanic language family.

Option A, "It developed as a Germanic language in its first incarnation, Old English," is partially correct but does not address the reason why English has not been reclassified as a Romance language. It acknowledges the Germanic origins of Old English but does not explain why the classification has not changed.

Option B, "The core of the language, its grammar and syntax, is still Germanic," correctly captures the likely reason. Despite the influence of Romance vocabulary, the fundamental grammatical and syntactical rules of English remain aligned with the Germanic language family.

Option C, "A larger portion of the English vocabulary is Germanic rather than Romance," is not the most relevant reason. While it acknowledges the prevalence of Germanic vocabulary, it does not directly address the classification of English as a Romance language.

Option D, "The Normans felt an affinity for the local tongue, which was Germanic," is not supported by the passage. It does not provide any information about the Normans' feelings toward the Germanic language or their influence on the classification of English.

Option E, "Neither linguistic heritage has a claim to preeminence," is not supported by the passage. The passage clearly highlights the Germanic origins of English and the impact of the Norman Invasion, suggesting that the Germanic heritage has a stronger claim.

Therefore, the correct answer is B) The core of the language, its grammar and syntax, is still Germanic, as this is a likely reason why English has not been reclassified as a Romance language according to the information provided in the passage.

Answer: B
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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
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Question 4, isn't it Option C( I only ). Its not mentioned in the passage in the passage about language of Saxon and Germanic replaced 5th century tongue
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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
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II The language spoken by the Saxon and Germanic settlers entirely supplanted the indigenous tongue of 5th-century Britain.

At the beginning, I thought the same thing because the red part. That it was not true.

Also in the passage is stated

Invasion in the 11th century. By the time of the Norman Invasion, Old English was already a language, with both its grammar and vocabulary based in the Germanic language family. However, the establishment of a ruling class who spoke a Romance language caused significant changes in the indigenous tongue.

here we do have 11th and in the question we do have 5th . Therefore, clearly, something correct is somewhere else

The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon and other Germanic settlers in Britain beginning in the 5th century CE.

The origin of the English language can be traced back means that the Saxons and the Germanic totally supplanted with the English language that was there before their invasion. Therefore, entirely supplanted is TRUe and II is also correct

I hope this helps

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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
Hi, can you please help me understand why option 3 in Q4 is wrong?
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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
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The question is an inference question. As such, for the answer to be correct it must be in the passage

In the passage itself we have only a simple reference to

ruling class who spoke a Romance language

No where in the passage is mentioned about ideas and ruling class.

Therefore, III is false
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The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
The answer to question four seems highly flawed.

Quote:
Which of the following can we infer from the passage?

I Searching for meaning based on the Latin root of a word is less likely to be useful in shorter words.
II The language spoken by the Saxon and Germanic settlers entirely supplanted the indigenous tongue of 5th-century Britain.
III The discussion of complex ideas during the Norman era in England was primarily the domain of the ruling class.

A I and II only
B II and III only
C I only
D I and III only
E III only



“I Searching for meaning based on the Latin root of a word is less likely to be useful in shorter words.”

Too broad. Does not specify application to the English language.


“II The language spoken by the Saxon and Germanic settlers entirely supplanted the indigenous tongue of 5th-century Britain.”

This cannot be supported by information stated in the passage, especially under the conditions of “entirely supplanted” which is also out of the scope of the passage.

“III The discussion of complex ideas during the Norman era in England was primarily the domain of the ruling class.”

We cannot infer that the ruling class tried to control even the discussion of complex ideas by other groups such as the lower class.

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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
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Absolutely not
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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
The answer to Question 4 should be C - there is no evidence of option II in the passage.
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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
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ayesha796

Could you explain why II is NOT in the passage ?
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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
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Explanation


4. Which of the following can we infer from the passage?

Difficulty Level: Hard

Explanation

I. Searching for meaning based on the Latin root of a word is less likely to be useful in shorter words.
The passage states that shorter words in the English language are derived from the Germanic languages, whereas longer words have a Latin background. This implies that shorter words are less likely to have Latin roots. Therefore, we can infer that searching for meaning based on the Latin root of a word is less likely to be useful in shorter words. This inference is supported by the passage.

II. The language spoken by the Saxon and Germanic settlers entirely supplanted the indigenous tongue of 5th-century Britain.
There is no direct mention or implication in the passage that the language spoken by the Saxon and Germanic settlers entirely supplanted the indigenous tongue of 5th-century Britain. The passage primarily focuses on the diverse linguistic origins and influences on the English language, rather than the complete replacement of the indigenous tongue. Therefore, we cannot infer this statement from the passage.

III. The discussion of complex ideas during the Norman era in England was primarily the domain of the ruling class.
The passage mentions that the ruling class, who spoke a Romance language, influenced the English language significantly after the Norman Invasion. It suggests that more complex and theoretical words related to subjects like astronomy, poetry, and epistemology are generally of Romance origin. This implies that the discussion of complex ideas was primarily the domain of the ruling class. Therefore, we can infer that the discussion of complex ideas during the Norman era in England was primarily the domain of the ruling class. This inference is supported by the passage.

Given that only inferences I and III can be made from the passage, the correct answer is (A) I and II only. I apologize for the incorrect initial response.

Answer: A
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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
Hello Carcass, I'm having a hard time with question type as in question 1. Kindly, please explain how to solve such types of questions and what is the difference between argument, scope, topic.
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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
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Well do not get foolish by the difference among topic, main idea, purpose they essentially most of the time, overlap. Getting lost in this nuances will only lead you to confusion and distract you from focusing on the passage.

However, there is a difference between, for example, the topic and the main idea: the topic is WHY the author took his/her time to write a passage. for example, I want to write and essay about geometry. That is the topic.

But If I explain all the differences among the triangles and the rules then this is the main idea why I wrote the essay: the main idea is to explain to the students certain rules

Back to the question: there is not a golden rule to solve the two portions of the text. Nonetheless, you should read it and try to grasp why those sentences are there and how they are chained one another

The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon and other Germanic settlers in Britain beginning in the 5th century CE.

Ok. The origin of the language dates back to those people in Britain.

Its unusual nature can be attributed to the diverse linguistic origins of the groups that contributed to its development and their role in English society.

Its weird configuration is due to the different origins of the groups and the amalgamation among them

Although English belongs to the Germanic language family, and its grammatical and syntactical rules reflect this, English vocabulary can be seen to be from multiple origins.

We can certainly trace back the origin of the English vocabulary but we do have much more

In fact, a large part of the vocabulary was not derived from the Germanic languages at all but is rather of Latin origin.

The vast majority of the vocabulary terms are from Latin

This can be explained by the influence on Old English of Old French and Latin during the Norman Invasion in the 11th century.

The reason why of the previous sentence is explained above in this one

By the time of the Norman Invasion, Old English was already a language, with both its grammar and vocabulary based in the Germanic language family.

More facts

However, the establishment of a ruling class who spoke a Romance language caused significant changes in the indigenous tongue.

The fact that we had the rule of a class who spoke a Romance language created a further complication in the evolution of the English Language

It is also interesting to note the correlation between the length of a word and its originmost of the shorter words in the English language are derived from the Germanic languages, whereas the longer words are from a Latin background.


The other highlighted portion tells us that there is a strong correlation and origin between the length of a word and its origin

short from Germanic
long from latin

Now

A The argument and its counterargument

The first is correct but the second do not

B Two examples of the scope of the passage

Not at all: the first is the scope but the second is not an example but a specific explanation of WHY the words are in a certain way. At most the second is an example but not the first

C The topic and scope of the passage

Not really

D The scope of the passage and an example

yes: we do have on one hand why the passage is written and the second sentence is an example. Notice also the It is also interesting to note the correlation

E The topic of the passage and an example

We do have the scope in the first sentence NOT the topic: the topic we said is the main idea. But here we have the topic: WHY we are creating the passage

Let me know if now is clear to you

See also this interesting article by Kaplan https://www.kaptest.com/study/lsat/lsat ... dea-scope/ and this video on the gmatclub channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNYMDL9uyhU
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Re: The origins of the English language can be traced back to the Saxon an [#permalink]
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Thanks sir for the explanation.
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