Re: 'together vs. to gather'

E fésto Philippe Caquant <herodote92@...>:
> This brings me to a question I'm trying to solve. I've
> often read that the concept "gender" (singular /
> plural) attaches logically to the subject; if there is
> a gender mark on the verb, it's only by some kind of
> "sympathy". But how can we conceive verbs like "to
> gather" or "to disperse" without the notion of plural
> ? Those verbs seem to BE plural in essence, they
> require a plural subject.
1) Gender is not the same thing as number.  Number is often inflected in
verbs; English does this, so there is no "without the notion of plural"
here.

2) The intransitive senses of |gather| and |disperse| are middle verbs
*derived* from their transitive counterparts.  The only reason they seem
to require plural subjects is because the semantics of the transitive
involve iteration over or dissemination of the object.

3) They don't require plural subjects anyway.  "Water gathers in these
puddles," "The congregation disperses immediately after the preacher
finishes."



        *Muke!
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