Hello, one and all-- My hunch is that "manufactures" used in the context of a plural noun is more about pretension than it is about hasty speaking by non-readers. For some reason, it has a kind of exalted quality to it--maybe it's something to do with the wierd way latin words get pluralized, or perhaps it's about that -re, -er thing in French pronunciation. Jenny Rabinowitz -----Original Message----- From: Glauner, Jeff [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2001 4:35 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Manufacture vs. Manufacturer Greg, I see this sort of thing in the writing of persons who don't do a lot of reading. They spell the word the way it sounds to them when it is pronounced. The hasty speaker sometimes leaves the second -er off a word like manufacturer. We are a long way from accepting this particular respelling. Spelling in English is exceedingly resistant to change. This misspelling might, however, mean that the pronunciation of the word is in flux. Pronunciation is not as resistant to change as spelling. Notice, for instance, the almost complete loss of the distinctive wh- sound in standard English. A large percentage of speakers now pronounces "weather" and "whether" as homonyms. That leads to some interesting confusion in writing. Jeff Glauner Associate Professor of English Park University, Box 1303 8700 River Park Drive Parkville MO 64152 [log in to unmask] http://www.park.edu/jglauner/index.htm -----Original Message----- From: Greg Dyer [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2001 2:36 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Manufacture vs. Manufacturer Hello all -- Thus far I've merely been a lurker on this list, but a recently submitted paper prompted me to share this rather trivial comment/question. A few years ago, when I was teaching a technical writing class for engineering majors, I began to notice students using the word "manufactures" as a noun in place of "manufacturers." Consider, for example, the following sentence: "Tire manufactures state the tire is worn out once it reaches this minimal tread." This use of the word drives me absolutely nuts, but it happens often enough that I'm beginning to wonder if the usage of the word has changed (or is changing), at least within the technical professions. Has anyone else noticed a similar usage? Greg Dyer To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/