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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 8.3 | Chapter 8.4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What American writer does Mencken claim likely inspired envy in British writers?
(a) Fowler.
(b) Poe.
(c) Irving.
(d) Griswold.

2. What is the American substitute for the English word "tin"?
(a) Bucket.
(b) Cup.
(c) Dish.
(d) Can.

3. What does Mencken list as dominant the English alternative for the word "mail"?
(a) Post.
(b) Letters.
(c) Postals.
(d) Shipping.

4. According to Chapter 8.4, what is the first impulse behind American imitation of English orthography?
(a) Compromise for cheaper printing.
(b) Anti-colonialism.
(c) Convenience.
(d) Affectation.

5. Which of the following is a term used by philologists to indicate the "instinctive search, etymologically unsound, for short roots in long words"?
(a) Deconstructing.
(b) Etymanalyzing.
(c) Formative de-synthesizing.
(d) Back-formation.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which Founding Father is said to have sought to establish a new American alphabet?

2. What purpose does Miss Wittmann say is served by the shortening of word forms?

3. Which of the following groups of foreign immigrants does Mencken not attribute influence over American English in Chapter 6.4?

4. From which of the following have the English changed their spelling?

5. What word in common honorifics did Edwin S. Gould protest against omitting in 1867?

(see the answer key)

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