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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. What Anglo-Saxon word does Mencken report the colonists refused to replace with an Old Norse word of similar meaning?
(a) Vapid.
(b) Hale.
(c) Sick.
(d) Ill.

2. According to the tale spread by William Gifford, what language was supposed to be substituted for English during the Revolutionary War?
(a) French.
(b) Hebrew.
(c) Latin.
(d) Spanish.

3. How many classifications of Americanisms does Gilbert M. Tucker provide in 1921?
(a) Thirteen.
(b) Two.
(c) Twenty.
(d) Twelve.

4. What does John S. Farmer describe the Western vernacular as being?
(a) Dry and prolonged.
(b) Irreverent and irrelevant.
(c) Flippant and pointless.
(d) Racy and pungent.

5. From what language does the English word "moose" come?
(a) English.
(b) Italian.
(c) Algonquin.
(d) Cherokee.

Short Answer Questions

1. Mencken claims that Noah Webster contains less of the scientific inquirer and more of what?

2. Which letter of the alphabet do Americans differ in pronunciation from other English-speaking countries?

3. To what continent does Mencken attribute the acknowledgment of the differences between American and British English?

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

5. Which European language has exerted the most influence on the American language?

(see the answer key)

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