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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. According to Benjamin Franklin, what was roughly the population of the colonies in 1751?
(a) 10,000,000
(b) 50,000,000
(c) 500,000
(d) 1,000,000

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

3. How many classifications of Americanisms does Bartlett postulate in his 1859 dictionary?
(a) Four.
(b) Forty-two.
(c) Three.
(d) Nine.

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

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

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 does Mencken state is neglected by those who are professional trained to investigate it?

3. According to Chapter 2.6, what regional pronunciation is erroneously thought by some to have superior authority regarding English pronunciation?

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

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

(see the answer key)

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