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Subject:	Re: doozie question
From:	Dave Sawyer <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:	Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar <[log in to unmask]>
Date:	Wed, 25 Oct 2000 14:11:36 -0500
Content-Type:	text/plain
Parts/Attachments:	text/plain (17 lines)

Pinker, _Words and Rules_ (pp. 25, ff) discusses this:

"So if you are ever challenged for saying 'attorney-generals,' 'mother-in-laws,' 'passerbys,' or 'hole-in-ones,' you can reply, "They are the very model of the modern 'major general." They come from reanalyzing phrase into a word, a common development in the history of English, and a nice demonstration that we treat stretches of language not as sounds linked directly to meanings but as structured trees." (p. 29)

Chapter 6 ("Of Mice and Men") also deals with funny plurals.

Dave Sawyer

____________________________
Dave Sawyer, Coordinator
Department of English
NorthHennepin Community College
7411 85th Ave. N.
Brooklyn Park, MN 55445
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(H)(612) 929-3714; (O) (612) 424-0832

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