Ask-A-Linguist Message Details
| Subject: | Relationship between Imply/Infer, Throw/Catch |
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| Question: |
Hello! Is there a term or name for the special relation each of these words has to the other, i.e. imply/infer, throw/catch? I always tell my students ''your verb is aimed in the wrong direction'' but if there is a good linguistic term for this, I'd like to know it. Thanks so much. Cheri Endean Asst. Professor and Interim Director of the Writing Center Kendall College of Art and Design Grand Rapids, MI |
| Reply: |
You might be talking about deixis, which takes into account the locations of the speaker and addressee. This is most marked in pairs like "bring" and "take", as well as "come" and "go", not to mention "here" and "there". There are differences between dialects of English about how strict they are about some of these terms. For example, in British English I'm told that something like "I'll bring it there to you" are unacceptable ("take" is required). |
| Reply From: | Susan D Fischer click here to access email |
| Date: | 01-Mar-2013 |
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