By 1583 approximately how many people spoke English, leading to new varieties?

Prepare for the AQA A-level English Language Test. Study with interactive quizzes on language change, complete with detailed explanations. Get ahead in your exam preparation today!

Multiple Choice

By 1583 approximately how many people spoke English, leading to new varieties?

Explanation:
Populations of speakers drive language variety. When English had grown to a sizeable and spread-out community, regional and social differences could solidify into distinct varieties. By 1583 the English-speaking population was about 1.6 million people, a scale that supports the emergence of new varieties across regions. The figure written as 1583 captures that order of magnitude, making it the best match for this idea. The other numbers don’t fit the concept of how many people were speaking English at that time (they refer to different years or much earlier periods).

Populations of speakers drive language variety. When English had grown to a sizeable and spread-out community, regional and social differences could solidify into distinct varieties. By 1583 the English-speaking population was about 1.6 million people, a scale that supports the emergence of new varieties across regions. The figure written as 1583 captures that order of magnitude, making it the best match for this idea. The other numbers don’t fit the concept of how many people were speaking English at that time (they refer to different years or much earlier periods).

Subscribe

Get the latest from Examzify

You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our privacy policy