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Re: word order of adjectives

From:Costentin Cornomorus <elemtilas@...>
Date:Wednesday, August 27, 2003, 21:40
--- Ian Spackman <ianspackman@...>
wrote:

> >transfer medical student > >medical transfer student > > > >Problem is, you've only switched one compound > - > >medical student - for another compound - > transfer > >student. To each of those, you've appended a > >modifier - medical or transfer. You haven't > >actually stuck something in the middle of a > >compound. > > > >Padraic. > > Possible - what's your evidence?
Transfer student is a compoud; medical student is a compound. You put the modifier "transfer" in front of the first one and "medical" in front of the second one.
> The question was merely whether something could > be inserted into "medical > student" - I demonstrated it could.
And I didn't understand it that way! Because things can't be inserted in the middle of compounds that way.
> I myself was making no claim as to > whether these things were compounds;
Fair enough. I understand them to be compounds, though.
> I think my gut feeling is it's > approaching a true compound but not quite there > yet.
OK.
> Why do you argue that "medical student" and > "transfer student" are > compounds? Intonation?
Possibly. And stress, and semantic categorisation. I'd stress a noncompound as "new stúdent", the compound as "mèdical student". Also, there is less of a division: /nu: 'studnt/ v. /'mEdiklstudnt/. As far as categorisation, that's a little dicey. I understand "medical student" as a unit unto itself, not a geenric student with a modifier on. Dicey because not all "X student" juxtapositions are compounds. I don't think I'd see "physics and chemistry student" as a compound, for example. Padraic. ===== la cieurgeourea provoer mal trasfu ast meiyoer ke la cieurgeourea andrext ben trasfu. -- There was a musician named Packett, who'd had it, he just couldn't hack it; he stood with care on a cane backed chair, and impaled himself on a rackett. -- Come visit Ill Bethisad! -- <http://www.geocities.com/elemtilas/ill_bethisad/> .

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Ian Spackman <ianspackman@...>