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2. On the nature of the approximative expression NUM- odd

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Abstract

In this paper, the morphology, syntax, semantics, and diachrony of expressions liketwenty-odd are described, based on the results of a corpus study which considers data from the British National Corpus, the Oxford English Dictionary, and Google. The -odd suffix appears most frequently with twenty, and in collocations with temporal nominals such as years, days, etc. Distributionally it appears to be a derivational suffix on numerals, occurring inside additional suffixation such as ordinal -th. It originated from the use of odd to denote a surplus or remainder, which usage has existed for several hundred years. It is distinct from other English approximatives, and approximatives in other languages, in that -odd expresses an indeterminate range above the cardinality of the modified numeral, but not below it, while other approximative expressions (like about) include the possibility that the actual number might be either above or below the reference number.

Abstract

In this paper, the morphology, syntax, semantics, and diachrony of expressions liketwenty-odd are described, based on the results of a corpus study which considers data from the British National Corpus, the Oxford English Dictionary, and Google. The -odd suffix appears most frequently with twenty, and in collocations with temporal nominals such as years, days, etc. Distributionally it appears to be a derivational suffix on numerals, occurring inside additional suffixation such as ordinal -th. It originated from the use of odd to denote a surplus or remainder, which usage has existed for several hundred years. It is distinct from other English approximatives, and approximatives in other languages, in that -odd expresses an indeterminate range above the cardinality of the modified numeral, but not below it, while other approximative expressions (like about) include the possibility that the actual number might be either above or below the reference number.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Introduction ix
  5. Part I. Syntax and semantics
  6. 1. Inverse reflexives 3
  7. 2. On the nature of the approximative expression NUM- odd 37
  8. 3. Skating along the syntactic verge: Experimental pragmatics and understood elements of content 55
  9. 4. Current challenges to the Lexicalist Hypothesis: An overview and a critique 91
  10. Part II. Psycholinguistics
  11. 5. On the homogeneity of syntax: How similar do coordinates and subordinates look to the comprehension system? 121
  12. 6. The effect of case marking on subject-verb agreement errors in English 135
  13. 7. First language acquisition of coordination: The mud-puddle study and beyond 151
  14. 8. Frequency effects in children's syntactic and morphological development 177
  15. 9. Abstract linguistic representations and innateness: The development of determiners 189
  16. Part III. Language as a Formal System
  17. 10. One-level finite-state phonology 209
  18. 11. Biolinguistics today and Platonism yesterday 227
  19. Part IV. Standards
  20. 12. Linguistics as a community activity: The paradox of freedom through standards 235
  21. 13. Sherwin Cody's school of English 251
  22. Index 263
Time and Again
This chapter is in the book Time and Again
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.135.05doo

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Introduction ix
  5. Part I. Syntax and semantics
  6. 1. Inverse reflexives 3
  7. 2. On the nature of the approximative expression NUM- odd 37
  8. 3. Skating along the syntactic verge: Experimental pragmatics and understood elements of content 55
  9. 4. Current challenges to the Lexicalist Hypothesis: An overview and a critique 91
  10. Part II. Psycholinguistics
  11. 5. On the homogeneity of syntax: How similar do coordinates and subordinates look to the comprehension system? 121
  12. 6. The effect of case marking on subject-verb agreement errors in English 135
  13. 7. First language acquisition of coordination: The mud-puddle study and beyond 151
  14. 8. Frequency effects in children's syntactic and morphological development 177
  15. 9. Abstract linguistic representations and innateness: The development of determiners 189
  16. Part III. Language as a Formal System
  17. 10. One-level finite-state phonology 209
  18. 11. Biolinguistics today and Platonism yesterday 227
  19. Part IV. Standards
  20. 12. Linguistics as a community activity: The paradox of freedom through standards 235
  21. 13. Sherwin Cody's school of English 251
  22. Index 263
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