Reading centuries of change in a page

English · Vocabulary · ages 16-18

Name ______________________ Date ____________

What does narrow mean for a word meaning?
- It shrinks to one special sense
- It gains ten new senses
- It stops being spelled
Which set of evidence dates a text best?
- Three guesses about the author
- A word, a spelling, and a grammar pattern
- One favourite sentence
Trade, print, and migration can all push a language to change.
Circle one: True False
A dictionary shows sense A dated 1500 and sense B dated 1800. Which is older?
- Sense B, dated 1800
- Sense A, dated 1500
- Neither can be dated
A text uses verb endings that modern writing dropped. What does that suggest?
- A spelling prize
- A printing error
- An older period
One spelling fingerprint alone dates a text exactly.
Circle one: True False
A text has modern words but very old spelling. What should you do?
- Trust the first fingerprint only
- Ignore the spelling completely
- Keep checking and weigh every fingerprint
Two ports open and local texts gain new trade words. What is the best explanation?
- Contact through trade pushed new words in
- The words changed by themselves
- Spelling always changes first

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

It shrinks to one special sense · Narrowing moves from many uses down to one special sense.
A word, a spelling, and a grammar pattern · Three kinds of fingerprints let you match the text against known periods.
True · Causes sit outside the language, in what communities do and invent.
Sense A, dated 1500 · Entries list the oldest senses first, so the earlier date is the older sense.
An older period · A grammar fingerprint that modern texts lack points backward in time.
False · Match several kinds of evidence before judging a date.
Keep checking and weigh every fingerprint · Mixed evidence means no single fingerprint decides the date alone.
Contact through trade pushed new words in · Link who moved to the words on the page: traders carried them in.