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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.5 | Chapter 4.1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who proposed a generally accepted nomenclature for currency in 1785?
(a) Thomas Jefferson.
(b) Gouverneur Morris.
(c) Richard Grant White.
(d) Noah Webster.

2. Where was the broad "a" principally established prior to the Civil War?
(a) The Southeast.
(b) New England.
(c) The Midwest.
(d) California.

3. Which Founding Father is said to have sought to establish a new American alphabet?
(a) George Washington.
(b) Benjamin Franklin.
(c) John Hancock.
(d) Thomas Jefferson.

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

5. What word in American is used for the English word "shoe?"
(a) Footing.
(b) Slipper.
(c) Sandal.
(d) Boot.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Mencken at the beginning of Chapter 1.3, what do the novelists and newspapermen on either side of the Atlantic ocean delight in?

2. What word did Webster argue should have its vowel sound changed to "ee" instead of "eh"?

3. From what language does the English word "moose" come?

4. According to the tale spread by William Gifford, what language was supposed to be substituted for English during the Revolutionary War?

5. Which term do English dictionaries all describe as an Americanism from the comparative list in Chapter 4.1, despite the English version being frequently used in America?

(see the answer key)

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