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

2. Which European language has exerted the most influence on the American language?
(a) French.
(b) Spanish.
(c) German.
(d) Italian.

3. How is the "portmanteau-word" formed?
(a) By onomatopoeic creativity.
(b) By mixing parts of words with the same meaning in different languages.
(c) By blending two words.
(d) By finding the true root in the word.

4. What word best describes the English attitude towards the adoption of foreign loan-words, in contrast to the American attitude?
(a) Liberal.
(b) Accepting.
(c) Conservative.
(d) Tolerating.

5. Which is the first factor that Mencken identifies as an immediate impediment to the growth of the American language in Chapter 3.1?
(a) Regional diversity.
(b) Territorial expansiveness.
(c) Lack of a national literature.
(d) Political disharmony.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. According to Mencken, which title is subject to the greatest divergence in usage?

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

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

5. Which is the second factor that Mencken identifies as an impediment to the growth of the American language in Chapter 3.1?

(see the answer key)

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