Re: CHAT: Colectives (Re: CHAT: use of "they")

Tom Wier wrote:

> (1) When used without any article, it means people in general, and uses
> a plural verb always..  E.g. "People often find conlanging strange."
>
> (2) When used with an article, it means something nearly equivalent
> to "tribe" or "ethnicity", and in this function is a count noun (i.e., it may
> add the plural -s ending, with the verb agreeing with whatever number
> the noun is as indicated by that ending).  E.g., "The peoples of Europe
> have long suffered political and social division." or "The French people
> has long prided itself on its cultural achievements" or something like that.
(3) "The people", not further qualified, is a political term meaning
"the citizens of a given country or subdivision of it".  "The people
have spoken" means that someone has been elected; criminal
cases in New York State are formally "The People of the State of New York
*versus* John N. Doe" (normally abbreviated to "New York v. Doe").
By contrast, "the public" is an intellectual or cultural term.

> > Colombia is hardly an national state, as Canada or the United States are not
> > or as France and Germany are.  (Colombian nationality is defined by the
> > country, not the country after the nationality.)
>
> I would think many people in all of those countries would disagree with you.  (Consider:
> the virtual cultural homogeneity of the US
> and Canada, both internally, and between themselves
Note the negative after "Canada or the U.S.".

--
John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
        You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
        You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
                Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)