conundrum

[John Dunn]

I am puzzled by this for two reasons.  The first is that I would have thought that any noun indicating a substance or object capable of being manufactured could be used adjectivally before the word factory, e.g.:
tractor factory, helicopter factory, sausage factory, and hence confectionery factory, pasta factory.

The second is that when they used as nouns, neither soccer nor confectionery is capable of being qualified by an indefinite article, and therefore it is surprising that decoding problems arise with either sentence;  the indefinite article must here qualify a later noun.

John Dunn.


________________________________________
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Paul B. Gallagher [paulbg at PBG-TRANSLATIONS.COM]
Sent: 03 May 2012 17:47
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] conundrum

Sarah Hurst wrote:

> I just read in the paper that Alaskans found "a soccer and later a
> volleyball" washed up among the debris from the Japanese tsunami. I
> really don't like this because it sounds like "soccer" is a noun,
> i.e. the ball that was found - even more so because the "ball" in
> "volleyball" is part of the word and not a separate word. But I also
> think that "a confectionery and a pasta factory" sounds like "a
> confectionery" is a noun, unrelated to a factory.

Yes, as I noted upthread. Merriam-Webster thinks it's a noun, and offers
no adjectival definitions:

<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confectionery>
con·fec·tion·ery
noun \-shə-ˌner-ē\
plural con·fec·tion·er·ies

Definition of CONFECTIONERY
1: the confectioner's art or business
2: sweet foods (as candy or pastry)
3: a confectioner's shop

For that matter, "pasta" is a noun, too.

--
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------