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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. What difference in pronunciation does Mencken state most sharply distinguishes the two dialects?
(a) The normative "ch."
(b) The normative "a."
(c) The normative "o."
(d) The normative "-ary" suffix.

2. What is the physical basis to which the nasal twang of Americans is ascribed?
(a) Genetic diversity.
(b) The moist climate.
(c) Colder air.
(d) The dry climate.

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

4. In what language does Mencken state the double negative was once "quite respectable?"
(a) French.
(b) Russian.
(c) Spanish.
(d) Anglo-Saxon.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What word was "coatee" used as a diminutive for?

2. Which word do Americans use for "angry" that was once an English provincialism considered base?

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

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

5. According to Mencken, the name of what game puzzles etymologists?

(see the answer key)

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