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

[Benjamin Torbert]

I figure you can make almost anything intransitive if you really work at it.

On Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 3:54 PM, 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:      Re: Can "desegregate" be intransitive?
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> "The University of Alabama desegregated under court order in 1963"=C2=A0
> (P=
> erhaps factually incorrect, but surely grammatical.)
>
> Joel
>
>
>       From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>  To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=20
>  Sent: Monday, March 21, 2016 2:28 PM
>  Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Can "desegregate" be intransitive?
>   =20
> 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:=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.
> =
> EDU>
> > Poster:=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Can "desegregate" be intransitive?
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
> >
> > OED3 says for "integrate" 2.b., "To bring (racially or culturally
> > different=3D
> > iated peoples) into equal membership of a society or system; to cease to
> > se=3D
> > gregate (racially)," and goes on to allow "Also intr., to become
> > integrated=3D
> > ," with three intransitive (I think!) examples in the 1960's.
> >
> > However, for "desegregate" it only has "transitive": "trans. To reunite
> > (pe=3D
> > rsons, classes, races, etc.) hitherto segregated; esp. (orig. U.S.) to
> > abol=3D
> > ish racial segregation in schools and other institutions."
> >
> > Why not "Also intr., to become desegregated"?=3DC2=3DA0 Because the
> minio=
> ns
> > hav=3D
> > e not yet found an example?
> >
> > Joel
> >
> >
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-- 
Benjamin Torbert
Associate Professor of Linguistics
Director of the Master of Arts in English
420 Lucas Hall, U of Missouri-Saint Louis
Treasurer, Southeastern Conference on Linguistics
btorbert at gmail.com
(314) 236-1259

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