LL-L "Grammar" 2010.03.14 (04) [EN]

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*L O W L A N D S - L - 14 March 2010 - Volume 04*
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>

Subject: Grammar

 Dear Lowlanders,

I would like to know what you think about my proposal that the English
phrase “a number of” has moved to the adjectival slot that can be occupied
by adjectives such as “many,” “numerous,” “several,” “few,” etc. I base this
on the fact that these days “a number of” always goes with plural forms even
though “a number” is singular. The development of “a number of” thus seems
to be like that of “a few.” E.g., (asterisks marking ungrammatical
constructions) ...

(01) There *are* *several* *books* on the shelf.
(02) *There *is* *a few* books on the shelf. (substandard)
(03) There *are* *a few* *books* on the shelf.
(04) *There *is* *a **number** of* books on the shelf.
(05) There *are* *a number of* *books* on the shelf.
(06) There *is* *a bunch of* books on the shelf.
(07) *There *are* *a bunch of* *books* on the shelf.

But I believe--and please correct me if I’m wrong--that “number”
*can*determine plural if it is modified; e.g. ...

(08) There *is* *a great number of* books on the shelf.
(09) (*)There *are* *a great number of* *books* on the shelf. (?)
(10) There *is* *a small number of* books on the shelf.
(11) (*)There *are* *a small number of* *books* on the shelf. (?)

I expect there to be dialectical differences.

At any rate, I would be interested in your thoughts on this matter.

Also, I would be interested to know what this looks like in Scots and
Shetlandic. I expect “is” to be the default in Scots, since “is” is often
used with plural forms.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA



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