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

2. In what language did the American derivative "coyote" originate?
(a) Aztec.
(b) French.
(c) Spanish.
(d) Mayan.

3. Who was responsible for the endowment to the Simplified Spelling Board?
(a) Adrian Knox.
(b) Horace Hart.
(c) Andrew Carnegie.
(d) Noah Webster.

4. Whom does Mencken use to exemplify the flouting of linguistic purity in Chapter 6.1?
(a) Politicians.
(b) Famers.
(c) Working men.
(d) Professors.

5. Who is the author of "Travels in North America," published in 1827?
(a) Charles Astor Bristed.
(b) Louis Untermeyer.
(c) Henry Alford.
(d) Basil Hall.

Short Answer Questions

1. What country's works dominated the reading habits of the American colonists in the latter 18th century?

2. What language does the formalism of English grammarians come from?

3. What is the English meaning of the Hawaiian word "lanai"?

4. What does Mencken list as dominant the English alternative for the word "mail"?

5. Which term do English dictionaries all describe as an Americanism from the comparative list in Chapter 4.1, despite the English version being frequently used in America?

(see the answer key)

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