DD,

This is very much like Craig's example, "rolling sevens".  These
instances of number words are numerals functionally shifted to nouns.
In your second example, "three" is not numerical but indexical, and in
the third "sevens" now is the name of the symbol.  These multiple uses
have to be covered at some point in school grammar, but I don't know
where, probably quite late.
The fact that these words take plural inflection is good evidence that
they either belong to both classes or that they have undergone
functional shift.  I'll have to think a little about how to tell those
two possibilities apart.

Language is messy, and we can't expect grammar to be a whole lot less
so.  Think how boring it'd all be otherwise.

Herb

-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of DD Farms
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 2:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Greenbaum's word classes

At 07:24 AM 8/11/2006, Stahlke, Herbert F.W. wrote:. . .
>As to the status of "numeral", number words do not inflect.

Lifer military DD: "Columns of twos to the left, HUT!"; "Count out by 
threes, Hut!" Teacher DD: "All the threes are acting strange today."; 
"The Europeans write their sevens like this." 

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