Re: 'together vs. to gather'

--- Andreas Johansson <andjo@...> speirit:

> > The act of gathering or dispersing can
> > take place without ever having gathered or
> > dispersed anything.
>
> Explain that again?
In response specifically to "But how can we
conceive verbs like "to gather" or "to disperse"
without the notion of plural?" I said the above.
What I mean is that the notion of "number" has
nothing to do with the verb, because I can engage
in "gathering" without ever actually obtaining
anything. In other words, the word "gather"
refers to the action of collecting, not to the
objects collected (or their number) or the
subject collecting.

> English grammar being what
> it is, number will rear its
> sibilant head as soon as count nouns are
> involved,
Sure. If I am gathering $4 coins, then here we
are talking about count nouns - discrete objects.
Their number has no bearing on the verb, though.

> and intr "to gather"
> and "to disperse" can certainly take count
> nouns as subjects.
Sure. In general, it is a person that gathers and
disperses things. [Though as noted, even mass
things can gather or disperse of their own.]

> (Are there any
> English verbs that can't take both count and
> mass nouns as subjects?)
Rain? Snow? While I guess you could
(nonsensically) say "the dog rained", the subject
of these weather verbs is never stated. I guess
it's neither mass nor count, cos we never say
what "it" actually is. Not quite what you're
after...

> > > transcended. "Dust gathered in the unused
> > > rooms" or whatever.
> >
> > Also with change of voice, there. [Like "soup
> > cooks".]
>
> Change of voice with regard to what?
From active to middle. Dust gathers itself, in
other words.

Padraic.


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