Re: OT: passport languages

David Barrow wrote at 2003-08-30 16:18:02 (-0500)
 > Andreas Johansson wrote:
[..]
 > >
 > >Asterisks meant to indicate footnote usually go behind stuff - one'd
 > >expect "... in Standard English* when ...". A prefixed asterisk, in
 > >linguistics contexts, usually indicates an unattested form - I was wondering
 > >where you were pulling some sort of joke re: the existence of a "Standard" English.
 > >
 > >
 > I should have put it after, but then it should be Standard* English
 > shouldn't it?  I'm referring to this particular variety of English.
 >
 > David Barrow
 >
Well, either would be acceptable, but the fact that you capitalized
"Standard" suggest that "Standard English" is to be taken as a compound,
so an asterisk after "English" would be interpreted as having scope
over the entire noun phrase "Standard English" rather than just
"English".