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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 10.1.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What does the movement towards the general vowel neutralization promise to do in the future, according to Mencken?
(a) Dispose of many vowels.
(b) Clarify the pronunciation of vowels.
(c) Reduce the number of vowel sounds, but not the vowels themselves.
(d) Create new vowels.

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

4. Which of the early presidents does Mencken identify as archetypal of the new American?
(a) Andrew Jackson.
(b) James Monroe.
(c) George Washington.
(d) Thomas Jefferson.

5. Mencken states that the "Meyers" are the "Smiths" of what country?
(a) Lichtenstein.
(b) Austria.
(c) Slovenia.
(d) Poland.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

4. Who "tries" a legal case in England?

5. In what parts of language does Mencken say the "chief grammatical peculiarities" of spoken English are found?

(see the answer key)

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