LL-L "Grammar" 2009.05.16 (01) [EN]

[Lowlands-L List]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 16 May 2009 - Volume 01
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
 Subject: Grammar

Hello, dear Lowlanders!

I stumbled across another case of seeming ambiguity in English usage.

Yesterday I bought what was labeled "hulled barley". Had I not seen the
grain I would have thought its hulls had been removed. But its hulls were
clearly still there (and that's what I was going for).

Right next to it was a container full of "pearl barley", and next to that
was a container of "organic barley, pearled".

The ambiguity here lies in the use of *-ed*. Clearly it can only be used
with verbs, marking past participial forms, in this case in the objective,
adjectival case. Or ...?

   - Mary shell*ed* some fresh peas. Then she blanch*ed* the *shelled* peas
   in *salted*  water. Before that she had peel*ed* some potatoes and boil*
   ed* them. *Blanched* fresh peas, *boiled* potatoes and
oven-*roasted*lamb shank constitute her husband's most
   *beloved* Sunday lunch dish.

Pearling barley is apparently a special process that does more than remove
the hulls of barley. So, in theory at least, pearled barley is by default
also ... hulled?

When I come across the word "hulled" I want to understand it as meaning that
the hulls have been removed. But in the case of "hulled barley" it is
supposed to mean "with hulls". Confusing and sounding wrong? Why? The ending
*-ed* assumes a verb, an action, a process. Is it "to leave the hulls on"?
Similarly, I once came across the label "shelled almonds" for almonds with
their shells on. Surely this is wrong. Or?

On the other hand, most birds are "*winged* creatures", only some of them
being wingless. Their wings have not been removed, but nature has *given *them
wings, as opposed to four-*legged* animals. And those *winged* creatures are
also *feathered*, which is definitely not the same as being *plucked*.

So is "*hulled* barley" analogous to "*winged* bird", or is it analogous to
"*peeled* potato"?

Can you come up with similar seemingly ambiguous cases in English and other
Lowlands language varieties?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

•

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