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Re: USAGE: YAEUT: "Molten" vs. "Melted"

From:Peter Collier <petecollier@...>
Date:Monday, October 13, 2008, 20:44
>> --- On Mon, 10/13/08, Eldin Raigmore <eldin_raigmore@...> wrote: >> >> > In English the verb "melt" has two passive perfect >> > participles; to wit, "molten" >> > and "melted". >> > When is it more appropriate to use "molten" than >> > "melted", and when is it more >> > appropriate to use "melted" than >> > "molten"? >> > Are there any circumstances in which only one is >> > appropriate? If so, what >> > circumstances, and which one is appropriate? >> >> In my experience, "melted" is used for things which are seen in their >> melted state under conditions an average person might easily create or >> observe, such as melted ice, melted cheese, melted plastic, melted >> butter, >> ... >> >> Things which require extraordinary conditions, not normally encountered >> in >> daily life, in order to melt would use "molten", such as molten lead, >> molten >> lava, molten steel, molten glass. >> >> --gary
So, time for my ha'pporth's worth. Firstly, to me molten can also imply a sense of great heat (lava, metal, glass) - perhaps even usually so - but no always necessarily. I think there may be an aspective sense to it also. Molten seems more staive: 'This metal is molten', whereas 'melted' seems more suited to a perfect aspect 'My ice cream has melted'. P.

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R A Brown <ray@...>