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Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 22:07:51 -0400 (EDT)
To: Nathan Binkert <binkertn &AElig umich.edu>
cc: Daniel Reeves <dreeves &AElig umich.edu>, improvetheworld &AElig umich.edu
From: "Peter J. Binkert" <binkert &AElig oakland.edu>
Subject: Re: request for linguist...
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Hello,

Well, there is a reasonable number of other similar compounds (spelling is
irrelevant since it is merely conventional):

woman suffrage, woman hater, woman chaser
manservant, manhunt, man-hour, man-eater
lady chapel, lady-killer, lady-bug
woman/man power
girl/boy scout, girl/boyfriend
people pleaser

and so on

A lot of the oddity depends on what is customary, so "woman journalist"
and "woman doctor" occur because those jobs were traditionally held by
men.  Also relevant is what else is available ("male nurse") and how
ambiguous the words are.  Note that "man" means 'adult male human' or
'mankind/human being.' I think "man-eater" usually means 'eats human
beings,' not 'eats adult males,' though it is possible to make the
difference clear:

That tiger is a man-eater.
That woman is a man-eater.

"Woman power" exists, I think, in emphatic contrast to "man power."  So,
there are a whole bunch of factors, none of which I can definitely prove.

On the other hand, the word "woman" in the phrase "woman governot" is
still a noun.  And that I can prove.  I have trouble with your saying it
is "used as an adjective."  The fact is that nouns can be modified by
other nouns.  Thus, "history" is still a noun in "history teacher."  We
know that because modifiers of "history" must themeselves be adjectives,
eg., "ancient history teacher (ambiguous), early American history
teacher," etc.  Note also the following:

a cotton cotton sack (a sack for cotton made out of cotton)
a practical practical nurse (a practical nurse who is practical)

"Cotton" is always a noun; "practical" is always an adjective.  Both nouns
and adjectives can either modifier other nouns or be the first member of a
compound noun.  So, I try to avoid saying things like "X is a noun used as
an adjective" if for no other reason than the following:

a pretty governor, a very pretty governor, a prettier governor
a woman governor, *a very woman governor, *a womaner governor

In no way is "woman" an adjective.

I hope this helps.

Peter Binkert


On Thu, 27 Oct 2005, Nathan Binkert wrote:

> Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 16:27:14 -0400 (EDT)
> From: Nathan Binkert <binkertn &AElig umich.edu>
> To: Daniel Reeves <dreeves &AElig umich.edu>, Peter Binkert <binkert &AElig oakland.edu>
> Cc: improvetheworld &AElig umich.edu
> Subject: request for linguist...
>
> > Btw, am I the only to whom "woman" or "women" used as an adjective is like
> > fingernails on a blackboard?  Like "woman governor"?  Could our resident
> > linguist comment on this?  Is it new?  It sounds utterly wrong to my ear.
> > But I suppose what really bothers me about it is that it's not symmetric.
> > You can't say "man governor".  (Or even "man nurse".)
>
> My dad is a professor of linguistics actually.  Like to comment dad?
>

Dr. Peter J. Binkert
Professor of Linguistics and Classics
Chair, Department of Linguistics
Director, Center for English as a Second Language
330 O'Dowd Hall
Oakland University
Rochester, MI 48309-4401

binkert &AElig oakland.edu
http://chars.lin.oakland.edu (Personal)
http://www.lin.oakland.edu (Departmental)

248-370-2175 (Voice)
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