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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 word was "coatee" used as a diminutive for?
(a) Coat.
(b) Beard.
(c) Shawl.
(d) Hat.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

4. In what sort of languages are double negatives "perfectly allowable"?

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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