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

2. Which double negative word is primarily found in Shakespeare?
(a) Nor.
(b) Never.
(c) No.
(d) Not.

3. How does Mencken characterize the vulgar American habitual use of the double negative?
(a) With "unconscious loathing."
(b) With "sturdy fidelity."
(c) With "periodic intensity."
(d) With "happy fecundity."

4. 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) Italian.
(b) Scottish.
(c) Danish.
(d) Irish.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Sayce say that language is composed of in 1879?

2. In terms of politics, an American candidate "runs" for office. What does an English candidate do?

3. What is the physical basis to which the nasal twang of Americans is ascribed?

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

5. What letter, when preceding a consonant, greatly irritated Henry James like a "morose grinding of the back teeth?"

(see the answer key)

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