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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the English word for a collection of colleges?
(a) A Cardinal.
(b) A Collegiate.
(c) A Maltin.
(d) A University.

2. How many dialects dominate American English, according to Chapter 1.5?
(a) None.
(b) Two.
(c) Four.
(d) Ten.

3. How is the "portmanteau-word" formed?
(a) By onomatopoeic creativity.
(b) By blending two words.
(c) By mixing parts of words with the same meaning in different languages.
(d) By finding the true root in the word.

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

5. What is the universal substitute for the word "ye" as described in Chapter 6.2?
(a) You.
(b) Thou.
(c) Thee.
(d) The.

6. What sound did Webster object to inserting in words such as "gradual" and "nature," before the "u"?
(a) Ch.
(b) T.
(c) Dh.
(d) Y.

7. What does Mencken list as dominant the English alternative for the word "mail"?
(a) Letters.
(b) Postals.
(c) Post.
(d) Shipping.

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

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

10. Which London newspaper lamented the "menace" that American movies offer to the purity of the English language?
(a) The <i>Illustrated London News</i>.
(b) The <i>Daily Herald</i>.
(c) The <i>Times</i>.
(d) The <i>Daily News</i>.

11. What difference in pronunciation does Mencken state most sharply distinguishes the two dialects?
(a) The normative "ch."
(b) The normative "o."
(c) The normative "a."
(d) The normative "-ary" suffix.

12. What ethnicity of people, through the influence of the mercantile class, is referred to by a different name in the United States than in England?
(a) Latino/Hispanic.
(b) White/Caucasian.
(c) Jew/Hebrew.
(d) Black/African American.

13. 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.

14. Which of the following did the African slaves NOT introduce to American English?
(a) Goober.
(b) Gumbo.
(c) Voodoo.
(d) Banjo.

15. Which European language has exerted the most influence on the American language?
(a) French.
(b) Italian.
(c) Spanish.
(d) German.

Short Answer Questions

1. What use of storage was added to the American meaning of the word "barn?"

2. What notable author was the first Englishman to carry Americanisms successfully back to his home?

3. Where was the broad "a" principally established prior to the Civil War?

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

5. What purpose does Miss Wittmann say is served by the shortening of word forms?

(see the answer keys)

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