View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9.2 | Chapter 9.3.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the longest list of spelling changes from English to American that Mencken gives in Chapter 8.1?
(a) The omission of a redundant -e.
(b) The change of diphthongs into plain words.
(c) The -or/-our distinction.
(d) Miscellaneous differences.

2. What is the physical basis to which the nasal twang of Americans is ascribed?
(a) Colder air.
(b) The dry climate.
(c) The moist climate.
(d) Genetic diversity.

3. What American writer does Mencken claim likely inspired envy in British writers?
(a) Irving.
(b) Fowler.
(c) Griswold.
(d) Poe.

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

5. What language did "ambassador," "ancestor," and "bachelor" come into English from?
(a) Spanish.
(b) Italian.
(c) French.
(d) Latin.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who published a work in 1768 entitled "Scheme for a New Alphabet and a Reformed Mode of Spelling, with Remarks and Examples Concerning the Same, and an Enquiry into its Uses"?

2. According to Mencken, democratic government is essentially government by whom?

3. According to Mencken, the English opposition to American spelling transcends the academic and takes on the character of what?

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

5. What difference in pronunciation does Mencken state most sharply distinguishes the two dialects?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 246 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample