Deltas 802

[Geoff Nathan]

My immediate reaction was that it was a possessive, but that's with no evidence whatsoever.

Interestingly, here in Detroit people talk about working at Fords and Chryslers (although it seems only older folks use the construction.

Geoff

Geoffrey S. Nathan
Faculty Liaison, C&IT
and Associate Professor, Linguistics Program
+1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT)
+1 (313) 577-8621 (English/Linguistics)

----- "Alice Faber" <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU> wrote:

> From: "Alice Faber" <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 11:06:47 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Re: Deltas 802
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Alice Faber <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU>
> Organization: Haskins Laboratories
> Subject:      Re: Deltas 802
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 4/26/10 10:25 AM, Herb Stahlke wrote:
> > Yesterday I received the following query from Ask-a-Linguist:
> >
> > "I'm an airline pilot. I frequently hear other pilots add an ''s''
> to
> > their airline call sign if their airline ends in an ''a.'' For
> > example, a pilot will say ''Cleared for takeoff, Deltas 802''
> instead
> > of ''Cleared for takeoff, Delta 802.'' The same is true with my
> > company, Mesaba. Some say ''Mesabas'' instead of ''Mesaba.'' I
> think
> > the sentence flows better with adding the ''s,'' but I can't find
> any
> > linguistic reason why people do it. Answer?"
> >
> > I suggested that the -s might be a genitive bu-t then it should
> occur
> > with any airline name.  Perhaps the -s is an alternative to the
> > elliptical noun phrase "Delta (flight) 802, but, once again, that
> does
> > not explain why it occurs only with airline names ending in<a>.  I
> > asked him if he knew of airlines ending in<y>  or<o>  and whether
> he'd
> > heard the -s with them as well.  I haven't heard back from him yet.
> >
> > I'd be interested in other interpretations of "Deltas 802."
> >
>
> When I saw that query, my immediate association was with "the
> Walmarts",
> which, I think, is a different -s than the ubiquitous department
> store
> -s (which pretty much, as I recall from the last discussion of it,
> doesn't co-occur with the definite article). I didn't have time to
> think
> out a response, so I let it go.
>
> --
> ==============================================================================
> Alice Faber                                    faber at haskins.yale.edu
> Haskins Laboratories                           tel: (203) 865-6163
> x258
> New Haven, CT 06511 USA                        fax (203) 865-8963
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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