Bruce,
I think you're explanation makes sense, although it disturbs me that
this sort of structure cannot be adequately handled by traditional
grammar. True, traditional grammar has some holes and flaws, but I
admit this is a new one to me.
As support for your view that "dollar" in "the book costs a dollar" is
not really a direct object, I'd point out that you really cannot put the
sentence in passive voice (which is a good test of course for almost all
DO's). "A dollar was cost by the book" just doesn't sound right.
I can see that, in my sentence and yours, one might say that these
'adverbial nouns' are complements. I don't know if I mentioned it, but
one hypothesis I had was that "a dollar" in "The book is worth a dollar"
seems very much like an object complement. But I believe your
explanation is clearer and more sensible, given the connection you make
to other 'adverbial nouns' dealing with degree.
I don't like phrases that we use such as "adverbs acting like noun" or
vice versa, but I can see that the 'adverbial noun' hypothesis best
explains this one.
Many thanks,
Larry Beason
-------------------------------
Larry Beason
Director of Composition
Dept. of English, Univ. of South Alabama
Mobile, AL 36688
251-460-7861
-------------------------------
>>> [log in to unmask] - 6/23/04 5:10 PM >>>
Larry,
My sense is that the noun phrase that follows "worth" is an "adverbial
noun."
Such nouns are quite frequent in telling "how much" or "how many."
Sometimes
the verb "cost" is analyzed as though the noun that follows is a
direct
object.
This too would seem to me to be an adverbial noun telling the degree.
How much does the book cost? The book costs a dollar.
How much is the book worth? The book is worth a dollar.
The conclusion would be that the noun is a complement to the adjective
"worth"
and that the only appropriate noun to follow "worth" would be a unit
of
measure
or something that would translate into some sort of measure of value.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Similarly when we have "He weighs a ton" the noun phrase seems to
function as
an adverbial noun of degree, not a direct object. Consider also "He
measures
six feet" an "He is six feet tall." The measure of age usually
includes the
adjective "old," but doesn't seem always to need it, as "He is twenty
years
(old)." In consideration of this structure as possibly more normal,
we could
make the observation that "worth" is unusual in that its adverbial
modifier
follows as a complement (without a connective).
I hope this doesn't raise more questions than it seeks to respond to.
Bruce
>>> [log in to unmask] 6/23/2004 11:35:12 AM >>>
How would you analyze 'worth' in a sentence such as "This book is
worth
a dollar"?
If 'is' is a linking verb and 'worth' is a predicate adjective, what
is
a noun doing afterward?
Dictionaries I've consulted indicate 'worth' is a noun or adjective. I
myself can't use 'worth' as a descriptive adjective that comes before
a
noun (the normal position of course for most single-word, non-verbal
adjectives).
I think this example is similar to the above: "This book, worth a mere
dollar, is yours if you want it."
I was thinking 'worth' might be preposition (which would explain a
noun
afterwards), but I doubt it. My other guess is it is an old term (Old
English) that ls now an idiosyncratic adjective that requires a noun
to
complete the description. Not a very satisfying answer, so I'm
wondering what others think.
Larry Beason
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