Re: English syllable structure (was, for some reason: Re: Llirine: How to creat a language)

Patrick Dunn <tb0pwd1@...> writes:

> On Sat, 8 Dec 2001, [iso-8859-1] Cheng Zhong Su wrote:
>
> >   Elliott Lash wrote: >
> > > Um....you can't say "She went to bank" you HAVE to
> > > say "She went to a/the bank"
> > >
> > > Elliott
> > >
> > Answer: Then what is the meaning of "She went to a/the
> > bank" and what's the meaning of:"He is a doctor?","He
> > is a bachelor?"
> > Su Cheng Zhong
>
> Well, it depends on context.  So?  Is that a problem?
>
> If I lived near a river, the default context of "she went to the bank"
> might be the bank of the river, but usually the default context of that
> statement is a financial institution.  One rarely "goes to" a physical
> feature like the bank of a river.  I'm not sure why; but then, I'm a
> philologist, not a linguist.
>
> "He is a doctor." means he has one of two different degrees, either Ph.D.
> or MD.  Context might have to determine which, or if one wants to be
> clear, one can say, "He is a medical doctor" or "He is a doctor of
> English."
>
> "He is a bachelor" means "He is unmarried."  I've never heard it refer to
> the degree.
You could say "He is a bachelor of arts" I guess...

Elliott

> --Patrick
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Prurio modo viri qui in arbore pilosa est.
>                         ~~Elvis
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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