"the" with season names (fwd)

[Rudolph C Troike]

dInIs,

        I could say "It snows a lot in winter" if I lived in Michigan, but
I can't say it here in southern Arizona.

        Rudy


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Date:    Sat, 26 Oct 2002 09:42:53 -0400
From:    "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: In (the?) season x

I suspect region! I can't say "It snows a lot in winter." Too bad we
don't know more about the regional-social distribution of article use
(except for the well-known Transatlantic stuff like "in hospital,"
etc...).

dInIs


--
Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
740 Wells Hall A
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
Office - (517) 353-0740
Fax - (517) 432-2736

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Date:    Sat, 26 Oct 2002 15:42:52 -0400
From:    Dodi Schultz <SCHULTZ at COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject: In (the?) season x

Rima McKinzey, citing Tennyson, says,

  >> When it's ongoing and general, I don't use the definite article. "In
  >> spring a young man's fancy..."

What the poet, attuned to the rhythm of the line, actually wrote was: "In
the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love."
(Locksley Hall, 1842)

--Dodi Schultz

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