Thanks Dick!
At 18:20 22/11/99 , you wrote:
>Dear Dylan,
>Nice one! Surprising places people do their field work these days. How
>about this explanation?
>
>At 10:54 22/11/1999 +0000, you wrote:
> >Hi
> >
> >Can anyone shed any light on the following:
> >
> >Can I Have ...
> >two gin and tonics
>## gin-and-tonic is a single word, so it takes a single (final) plural suffix.
*** I like this - I think sometimes coordination happens in
word-formation/morphology (whatever...)
but this is also similar to a 'normal' 'phrase' where the plural sits on
the final element.
> >two gins and tonic
>## "and" = 'with', marking a dependency rather than coordination. The
>phrase head is "gin", so that's where the plurality is marked.
*** This had occurred to me, but I was unsure whether to take it any
further. In some of the investigations I've done coordination is similar to
a 'with' construction or uses a commitative for the same sort of meaning.
> >two gins and tonics
>## "{[gin] [and tonic]}", both complementing "two", so both plural. What's
>odd is the semantic structure because gin-and-tonic is a single semantic
>unit. Just like "two boys and girls", referring to two couples - there's no
>other way to say it (other than using "two couples each consisting of a boy
>and a girl").
***This is the one where I was really stumped! g+t is a unit, but then it
is in the other two examples - at least in the conventional interpretation.
In fact, 2 gins and tonics is the more literally accurate description of
what is to be served! (one pours 2 gins and two tonics!)
> >
> >all three variants in the location(s) of plural '-s' have been used when
> >buying drinks from me over the bar.
> >
> >In all three cases the intention is for 2x(gin and tonic), but only the
> >first one unambiguously means that (to me).
> >
> >Cheers
> >
> >
> >
>
>Richard (= Dick) Hudson
>
>Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London,
>Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT.
>+44(0)171 419 3152; fax +44(0)171 383 4108;
>http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/home.htm
Dylan
130A Lewisham Way, New Cross, SE14 6PD
tel: 020-8480-9337, mobile: 07803-149297
email: [log in to unmask], ICQ: 47968371
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