[Ads-l] The part of speech of it

[David Barnhart]

Are the grammars a bit leaky on this?

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 1, 2015, at 11:09 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: The part of speech of it
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> I can't answer the question, but to me it is the same as 'trumps' in the
> sentence "Spades are trumps."
> 
> It is also similar to 'cleanup' in the sentence "Duda is batting cleanup."
> 
> I think 'maillot jaune' works the same way, n'est-ce pas? Also Punto and
> Banco in baccarat.
> 
> DanG
> 
> On Thu, Oct 1, 2015 at 5:15 AM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
>> Subject:      The part of speech of it
>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> In various children=E2=80=99s games, such as tag, freeze tag and =
>> hide-and-seek, one person is designated as it, which perhaps can be =
>> summarized as the person having the role of making someone else it =
>> according to various rules. Wiktionary and the Oxford Dictionary site =
>> say the role is to catch other players. I don=E2=80=99t think the caller =
>> in mother, may I? or Simon says is referred to as it.
>> 
>> Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/it#Noun) lists this as a noun =
>> and the Oxford Dictionary site =
>> (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/it#IT) =
>> lists it as a pronoun.
>> 
>> 1. Noun?
>> If if it=E2=80=99s a noun, you should be able to say,=20
>> 
>> * =E2=80=9CRachel=E2=80=99s the it.=E2=80=9D=20
>> 
>> (Wiktionary but not Oxford has a different definition that probably =
>> works for this.)
>> 
>> 2. Pronoun?
>> If it=E2=80=99s a pronoun, you should be able to say,=20
>> 
>> * =E2=80=9CRachel is it. It is trying to catch me!=E2=80=9D
>> 
>> Neither of those work, and the Wiktionary illustrative sentence (which =
>> appears to not be a citation) is, "In the next game, Adam and Tom will =
>> be it=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D showing that this =E2=80=9Cit=E2=80=9D can be =
>> plural.
>> 
>> 3. Proper noun?
>> I don=E2=80=99t think it=E2=80=99s a proper noun, either, along the =
>> lines of Miss America:=20
>> 
>> Rachel was last year=E2=80=99s Miss America/ * yesterday's it
>> 
>> 4. Predicate adjective?
>> Could it be a predicate adjective, along the lines of =E2=80=9Caglow"?=20=
>> 
>> 
>> The ice rink was aglow
>> Rachel was aglow
>> 
>> * The aglow ice rink
>> * The it Rachel
>> 
>> My first guess is predicate adjective and second proper noun.
>> 
>> Benjamin Barrett
>> Formerly of Seattle, WA
>> 
>> Learn Ainu! https://sites.google.com/site/aynuitak1/=
>> 
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