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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what language did the American derivative "coyote" originate?
(a) Mayan.
(b) French.
(c) Spanish.
(d) Aztec.

2. To what continent does Mencken attribute the acknowledgment of the differences between American and British English?
(a) Europe.
(b) Asia.
(c) North America.
(d) South America.

3. Where was the broad "a" principally established prior to the Civil War?
(a) The Midwest.
(b) The Southeast.
(c) New England.
(d) California.

4. Which of the following groups of foreign immigrants does Mencken not attribute influence over American English in Chapter 6.4?
(a) Italians.
(b) Slavic peoples.
(c) South-Pacific Asian Islanders.
(d) Russian Jews.

5. Which letter of the alphabet do Americans differ in pronunciation from other English-speaking countries?
(a) X.
(b) W.
(c) J.
(d) Z.

6. What term did John Witherspoon coin, framing it within the context of vulgarity?
(a) Americanism.
(b) Scientist.
(c) Briticism.
(d) Anglophile.

7. What notable author was the first Englishman to carry Americanisms successfully back to his home?
(a) Charles Dickens.
(b) G.K. Chesterton.
(c) Cleveland Coxe.
(d) Joseph Conrad.

8. Who is the author of "Travels in North America," published in 1827?
(a) Basil Hall.
(b) Louis Untermeyer.
(c) Henry Alford.
(d) Charles Astor Bristed.

9. How many classifications of Americanisms does Gilbert M. Tucker provide in 1921?
(a) Two.
(b) Twenty.
(c) Thirteen.
(d) Twelve.

10. Mencken describes the American language as having a "democratic enmity" to all what, in the beginning of Chapter 6.1?
(a) Regulation.
(b) Grammatical rules.
(c) Individualism.
(d) Authority.

11. According to the report of Beverley, what did a group of soldiers turn into after eating some Jimson Weed?
(a) Zombies.
(b) Corpses.
(c) Fools.
(d) Somnambulists.

12. What does Sayce say that language is composed of in 1879?
(a) Letters.
(b) Words.
(c) Meanings.
(d) Sounds.

13. How do the English pronounce the first syllable in "lieutenant"?
(a) Left.
(b) Loo.
(c) Yeift.
(d) Lee-oo.

14. According to Chapter 2.6, what regional pronunciation is erroneously thought by some to have superior authority regarding English pronunciation?
(a) Chicago.
(b) Boston.
(c) South-eastern.
(d) New York.

15. Which defender of Americanisms cited by Mencken in Chapter 1.3 states that "Language is made by the people"?
(a) Edgar Jepson.
(b) George Ade.
(c) Richard Aldington.
(d) William Archer.

Short Answer Questions

1. To what phrase did Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, and Robert Southey object as a base Americanism, as discussed in Chapter 2.3?

2. According to Benjamin Franklin, what was roughly the population of the colonies in 1751?

3. Who "tries" a legal case in England?

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

5. How many dialects dominate American English, according to Chapter 1.5?

(see the answer keys)

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