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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 9.10.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which case of the noun in English yet has an inflection at the time of Mencken's writing?
(a) The accusative.
(b) The genitive.
(c) The ablative.
(d) The dative.

2. Which impulse behind American imitation of English orthography is more influential?
(a) Affectation.
(b) Convenience.
(c) Anti-colonialism.
(d) Compromise for cheaper printing.

3. What principle of spelling was behind much of Webster's theory concerning the simplification of spelling?
(a) Flexibility.
(b) Phonetics.
(c) Vowel accentuation.
(d) Convention.

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

5. Which of the following is a term used by philologists to indicate the "instinctive search, etymologically unsound, for short roots in long words"?
(a) Deconstructing.
(b) Formative de-synthesizing.
(c) Etymanalyzing.
(d) Back-formation.

Short Answer Questions

1. How is the "portmanteau-word" formed?

2. What does Sayce say that language is composed of in 1879?

3. Which of the following does Wilcox not list as a negative treatment of the English language by grammarians?

4. In what year did Noah Webster die?

5. To what does Mencken ascribe the inflection of English adjectives?

(see the answer key)

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