[Ads-l] Can "desegregate" be intransitive?

[Joel Berson]

"The University of Alabama desegregated under court order in 1963"  (Perhaps factually incorrect, but surely grammatical.)

Joel


      From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
 To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU 
 Sent: Monday, March 21, 2016 2:28 PM
 Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Can "desegregate" be intransitive?
   
Sounds fine to me.

JL

On Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 10:42 AM, Joel Berson <berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:      American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:      Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Can "desegregate" be intransitive?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> OED3 says for "integrate" 2.b., "To bring (racially or culturally
> different=
> iated peoples) into equal membership of a society or system; to cease to
> se=
> gregate (racially)," and goes on to allow "Also intr., to become
> integrated=
> ," with three intransitive (I think!) examples in the 1960's.
>
> However, for "desegregate" it only has "transitive": "trans. To reunite
> (pe=
> rsons, classes, races, etc.) hitherto segregated; esp. (orig. U.S.) to
> abol=
> ish racial segregation in schools and other institutions."
>
> Why not "Also intr., to become desegregated"?=C2=A0 Because the minions
> hav=
> e not yet found an example?
>
> Joel
>
>
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