There's a lot of inconsistency in the use of this -s, which is not surprising for a derivational affix that's only about 400 years old. There are compounds that take it, like herdsman, sportsman, and others that don't, like postman, fisherman, and there are some that occur both with and without it, like lineman/linesman, which don't mean the same thing, of course. And then there are forms like "spokesman", where the morphology is simply irregular. I think the -s in "masters" has become a nominalizer. and the derived word no longer means "of, pertaining to" a master. Rather, it denotes the absraction of that academic status. So we can say, "She's working on her masters." The -s here is analogous to the -ate in "She's working on her doctorate."
Some irregularities, like Lady Day or Lady Chapel arise because historically words like Lady weren't marked in the genitive, and so the zero genitive still shows up in Late Modern English. But I think you're right that the differences in place names you cite represent the irregularity of naming and of the use of -s.
I'll email you a copy of the paper, but it'll have to wait till Monday since I don't have the final version on the computer here at home. Please send me the email address I should use.
Herb
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Linda DiDesidero
Sent: Fri 5/12/2006 10:17 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: to HERBQuestion re: introducing grammar
Herb, This is fascinating! I cannot wait to read your paper (and yes, I'd
love to see a copy of that segment if you are comfortable with that)
Question: So how do we 'explain' the /s/ in masters degree or bachelors
degree if it does not indicate genitive case? What does it mean?
And why do we have Prince George's County but Queen Anne County (not Queen
Anne's County)? Do these simply derive from idiosyncrasies in the naming
process?
Thanks.
Linda
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/
|
