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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9.8 | Chapter 9.9.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following groups of immigrants does Mencken claim have a profound effect on not only the American vocabulary, but also its pronunciation and idiom?
(a) Irish.
(b) Scottish.
(c) Danish.
(d) Italian.

2. According to Mencken, the name of what game puzzles etymologists?
(a) Badminton.
(b) Football.
(c) Whist.
(d) Poker.

3. In what sort of languages are double negatives "perfectly allowable"?
(a) Asiatic.
(b) Teutonic.
(c) Romance.
(d) Semitic.

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

5. According to Mencken, how do the English pronounce "been?"
(a) Bein.
(b) Bin.
(c) Bain.
(d) Bean.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do the English pronounce the first syllable in "lieutenant"?

2. What difference in pronunciation does Mencken state most sharply distinguishes the two dialects?

3. How does Mencken characterize the vulgar American habitual use of the double negative?

4. In what language did the American derivative "coyote" originate?

5. Which double negative word is primarily found in Shakespeare?

(see the answer key)

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