Re: OT: libraries (was Re: dialectal diversity in English)

Adam Walker wrote:

>Are other languages as silly about the ordering of adjectives as English?
>
>
Not silly, specific. You pointed out a difference in meaning. This is
the advantage of it.

The difference in meaning was not the one I would've picked up on, but
then, what you call a public library, I (an Australian from Victoria)
call a local library if I need to distinguish it from a private library,
a uni library, or the state library, but generally private libraries
would be given a proper name, uni libraries too, or at least the name of
the uni their in, and the state library is almost invariably the state
library. To the best of my knowledge, local libraries all do
inter-library loans between themselves, as do uni libraries.

(The state library is this really big library in the Melbourne CBD. It's
run by the state rather than local councils,[1] is big, and has
different rules from local libraries.)

[1]: The closest equivalent to the American city as a political entity
as far as I know, but they aren't exactly equivalents. They generally
have names with 'city' (e.g. Casey City Council, City of Greater
Melbourne) or 'shire' (e.g. Shire of Gunnedah) in them, the distinction
being whether they'd be considered part of a city or not... well,
strickly speaking, based on population:land area ratio, but mine was
close enough.

--
Tristan                  <kesuari@...>