army ranks

[sagehen]

 Jonathan writes:
>..." General" appears to have been a nominalization (by clipping) of the
>>postpositive adj. in "captain-general." .......
~~~~~~~~~~
So, to bring this back to my question (sorry, Ron Butters), which should we
consider to be properly operative in the case of "attorney general,"  the
nominal or the adjectival "general?"
AM


 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
W stands for >:<  War ____Waste___Wiretaps____Witchhunts  >:<
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org