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The Singular Plurality of Verb Discord in English*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

W. H. Hirtle*
Affiliation:
Laval University

Extract

Number discord between subject and verb raises a theoretical problem for which linguists have, as yet, provided no satisfactory answer. Since facts of both morphology and syntax are involved, it is a problem which brings into focus the relation between what Guillaumians call tongue and discourse. First I shall outline the problem by giving a number of examples, and then try to suggest one avenue which might be explored in the hopes of finding a solution.

Type
Remarks/Remarques
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1982

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References

Guillaume, Gustave (1973a) Principes de linguistique théorique de Gustave Guillaume. Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.Google Scholar
Guillaume, Gustave (1973b) Leçons de linguistique de Gustave Guillaume 1948-1949, Grammaire particulière du français et grammaire générale IV. Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.Google Scholar
Hewson, John (1981) “The Guillaumian tradition in Canadian linguistics.” CJL/RCL 26:16170.Google Scholar
Hirtle, Walter (forthcoming) Number and Inner Space. Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.Google Scholar
Juul, Arne (1975) On Concord of Number in Modern English. Copenhagen: Nova.Google Scholar
Valin, Roch (1971) “Introduction,” in Leçons de linguistique de Gustave Guillaume 1948-1949. Structure sêmiologique et structure psychique de la langue française I. Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.Google Scholar