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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.1 | Chapter 3.2.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Mencken claims that Noah Webster contains less of the scientific inquirer and more of what?
(a) The philological traditionalist.
(b) The father.
(c) The erudite fool.
(d) The teacher.

2. According to Chapter 2.6, what regional pronunciation is erroneously thought by some to have superior authority regarding English pronunciation?
(a) Chicago.
(b) South-eastern.
(c) Boston.
(d) New York.

3. To what continent does Mencken attribute the acknowledgment of the differences between American and British English?
(a) South America.
(b) Asia.
(c) North America.
(d) Europe.

4. What does Mencken state is neglected by those who are professional trained to investigate it?
(a) Formal grammar.
(b) Idiosyncrasies.
(c) Philological anomalies.
(d) The vulgate.

5. To what phrase did Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, and Robert Southey object as a base Americanism, as discussed in Chapter 2.3?
(a) To advocate.
(b) To indulge.
(c) To process.
(d) Free endorsement.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

4. What event does Mencken credit with strengthening the obfuscation of distinction between American and British English?

5. According to Benjamin Franklin, what was roughly the population of the colonies in 1751?

(see the answer key)

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