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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2.3 | Chapter 2.4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following did the African slaves NOT introduce to American English?
(a) Banjo.
(b) Gumbo.
(c) Goober.
(d) Voodoo.

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

3. Whose clarity of prevision does Mencken praise in the opening of Chapter 1.1?
(a) Franklin.
(b) Madison.
(c) Waldo.
(d) Jefferson.

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

5. What "great humorist" does Mencken cite in Chapter 1.3 as "celebrating 'the vigorous new vernacular of the occidental plains and mountains'"?
(a) William Dean Howells.
(b) John Fiske.
(c) Mark Twain.
(d) Samuel Elridge.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which defender of Americanisms cited by Mencken in Chapter 1.3 states that "Language is made by the people"?

2. What word in American is used for the English word "shoe?"

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

4. How many classifications of Americanisms does Bartlett postulate in his 1859 dictionary?

5. How many dialects dominate American English, according to Chapter 1.5?

(see the answer key)

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