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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9.10.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which impulse behind American imitation of English orthography is more influential?
(a) Compromise for cheaper printing.
(b) Convenience.
(c) Anti-colonialism.
(d) Affectation.

2. What language did "ambassador," "ancestor," and "bachelor" come into English from?
(a) Spanish.
(b) French.
(c) Latin.
(d) Italian.

3. What "Anglomaniac affectation" did Noah Webster sneer at in 1789?
(a) Clinging to the silent "u" as in "honour."
(b) The literature of Fowler.
(c) The recalcitrance to neologisms.
(d) The broad "a."

4. Which organization produced a prospectus in 1913 that warned against extreme English conservatism in the spelling of foreign loan-words?
(a) National Education Association.
(b) Society for Pure English.
(c) Simplified Spelling Board.
(d) British Literary Association.

5. Who published a work in 1768 entitled "Scheme for a New Alphabet and a Reformed Mode of Spelling, with Remarks and Examples Concerning the Same, and an Enquiry into its Uses"?
(a) Thomas Jefferson.
(b) Samuel Johnson.
(c) Benjamin Franklin.
(d) Noah Webster.

Short Answer Questions

1. What class of Americans is most influenced by Briticisms, according to Mencken in Chapter 5.2?

2. In what parts of language does Mencken say the "chief grammatical peculiarities" of spoken English are found?

3. What purpose does the double negative primarily serve?

4. Which is the second factor that Mencken identifies as an impediment to the growth of the American language in Chapter 3.1?

5. What use of storage was added to the American meaning of the word "barn?"

(see the answer key)

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