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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">===============================================<br>
<b>L O W L A N D S - L - 14 March 2010 - Volume 04</b><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><br>
<a href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com">lowlands.list@gmail.com</a> - <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/">http://lowlands-l.net/</a><br>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Subject:
Grammar<br style="">
<br style="">
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Dear
Lowlanders,<br>
<br>
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)
...<br>
<br>
(01) There <b>are</b> <u>several</u> <b>books</b> on the shelf.<br>
(02) *There <b>is</b> <u>a <b>few</b></u> books on the shelf. (substandard)<br>
(03) There <b>are</b> <u>a few</u> <b>books</b> on the shelf.<br>
(04) *There <b>is</b> <u>a </u></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><u><b>number</b></u></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><u> of</u> books on the shelf.<br>
(05) There <b>are</b> <u>a number of</u> <b>books</b> on the shelf.<br>
(06) There <b>is</b> <u>a <b>bunch</b> of</u> books on the shelf.<br>
(07) *There <b>are</b> <u>a bunch of</u> <b>books</b> on the shelf.<br>
<br>
But I believe--and please correct me if I’m wrong--that “number” <i>can</i> determine
plural if it is modified; e.g. ...<br>
<br>
(08) There <b>is</b> <u>a great <b>number</b> of</u> books on the shelf.<br>
(09) (*)There <b>are</b> <u>a great number of</u> <b>books</b> on the shelf.
(?)<br>
(10) There <b>is</b> <u>a small <b>number</b> of</u> books on the shelf.<br>
(11) (*)There <b>are</b> <u>a small number of</u> <b>books</b> on the shelf.
(?)<br>
<br>
I expect there to be dialectical differences.<br>
<br>
At any rate, I would be interested in your thoughts on this matter.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Reinhard/Ron<br>
Seattle, USA</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">===================================================<span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><br>
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