Tag: Ellipsis

The verb that ran away from its inseparable prefix

German often uses inseparable prefixes on verbs. In almost all cases, these prefixes show up in a position where they are attached to verb. But counterintuitively, an inseparable prefix can occasionally appear without its verbal host appearing at all. This post covers such a case. Separable and inseparable verbal prefixes German makes extensive use of…… Continue reading The verb that ran away from its inseparable prefix

None is responsible, all can be absolved

I came across the following statement after the acknowledgements in linguist Neil Smith’s 1989 book The Twitter Machine: Reflections on Language: ‘None of the above has seen any part of this book, and can accordingly be absolved of all responsibility for errors and idiocies.’ Unfortunately, the 2nd clause (‘can accordingly be absolved…’) needs an explicit…… Continue reading None is responsible, all can be absolved

Some things I like about Hungarian

Hungarian differs from most European languages in several ways, partly because it is not a member of the Indo-European family of languages. Hungarian is a member of the Ugric branch of the Uralic language family. https://languagemiscellany.com/2024/01/the-uralic-languages/ This post covers some fascinating features of Hungarian: vowel harmony front and back vowels in deictic words possessive word…… Continue reading Some things I like about Hungarian

When ‘irrelevant’ cannot replace ‘not relevant’

A recent short post on Language Log pointed drew attention to sentence (1): ‘The patch is irrelevant, but the events that follow are.’ (1) Language Log » When “irrelevant” is not “not relevant” (upenn.edu) Although the post didn’t say so explicitly, sentence (1) is clearly odd in some way. The title of the Language Log…… Continue reading When ‘irrelevant’ cannot replace ‘not relevant’

Users of this car park do so at their own risk

A couple of times recently, I have seen disclaimers saying ‘Users of this car park do so at their own risk’. The meaning is clear, but this is an odd usage. Why is that usage odd? Usually, ‘do so’ is used only to replace a verbal phrase that repeats the same verbal phrase used earlier…… Continue reading Users of this car park do so at their own risk

Addicted to ‘right node raising’

In this post, I look at a construction that I often saw in drafts of documents I was reviewing. Although the construction is grammatical and concise, readers find it difficult to process. I explain what this construction is and why it is difficult. I also summarise a published review of some of the vast linguistics…… Continue reading Addicted to ‘right node raising’

Passive in Japanese

This post looks at the passive in Japanese. In earlier posts, I: explained 3 features of the passive construction, focusing on English https://languagemiscellany.com/2022/03/what-is-the-passivelooked at how 2 Bantu languages (Swahili and Chichewa) implement those 3 features. https://languagemiscellany.com/2022/04/the-passive-in-2-bantu-languages Background: passive In my earlier post, I explained that the passive construction: deletes or demotes the subject of the…… Continue reading Passive in Japanese

Doing work and playing roles in Italian

Several constructions in Italian use the verb fare (‘do’, ‘make’). Two of these constructions look very similar on the surface but syntactically they behave in very different ways. A short book Fare: Elementi di sintassi, by Nunzio La Fauci and Ignazio M Mirto (2003) analyses them. Here are 2 examples: (1) Adamo fa il medicoAdam…… Continue reading Doing work and playing roles in Italian

Infinitives in lists

The purpose of this post is to: discuss two ways of presenting infinitives in lists; explore the nature of infinitives preceded by to; andconclude on how to present infinitives preceded by to. Infinitives in lists My ex-colleague Michael Butcher, who was Editorial Director of the IFRS Foundation from around 2001 to around 2011, would have…… Continue reading Infinitives in lists