Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2013 15:03:20 -0400 From: Eitan Adler <lists@eitanadler.com> To: Chris Rees <utisoft@gmail.com> Cc: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: docs/176806: recv(2) man page grammatical fixes Message-ID: <CAF6rxg=kJcVboe4fHnQyN0P63Vt%2Bh9bhmNKe%2BjE0NSY_qq=-nw@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <CAF6rxgntNE=n3Et4eDE8pg3wnb9pi_0Y25KKy%2BZg_M69cWpbLg@mail.gmail.com> References: <201303101550.r2AFo1rA064319@freefall.freebsd.org> <CAF6rxgntNE=n3Et4eDE8pg3wnb9pi_0Y25KKy%2BZg_M69cWpbLg@mail.gmail.com>
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On 10 March 2013 14:44, Eitan Adler <lists@eitanadler.com> wrote:
> On 10 March 2013 11:50, Chris Rees <utisoft@gmail.com> wrote:
>> The following reply was made to PR docs/176806; it has been noted by GNATS.
>>
>> From: Chris Rees <utisoft@gmail.com>
>> To: bug-followup@freebsd.org
>> Cc:
>> Subject: Re: docs/176806: recv(2) man page grammatical fixes
>> Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2013 15:42:17 +0000
>>
>> --f46d0447f382b381fd04d793e65c
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>>
>> The word "data" is plural of "datum", so yes, were is correct here.
>
> "data" is an uncountable noun ("mass noun") such that it is always
> treated as a single unit. If this confuses you think about the word
> "water".
>
> "and the timeout expired before water were received."
> vs
> "and the timeout expired before water was received."
>
> "was" is correct.
Some further (slightly technical) explanation:
This is the link tree of "The data was received."
+----------------Xp---------------+
+-----Wd-----+ |
| +-Dmu-+--Ss-+---Pv---+ |
| | | | | |
LEFT-WALL the data.n was.v received.v .
Note that data is marked "Dmu" which implies it is a mass-only plural.
If "were" were permitted then it would be marked "D*u-" implying it
is either a mass noun or a plural.
There are two possible link trees for "The data were received."
+----------------Xp----------------+
+-----Wd-----+ |
| +-Dmc-+--Spx-+---Pv---+ |
| | | | | |
LEFT-WALL the data.p were.v received.v .
+----------------Xp----------------+
+-----Wd-----+ |
| +-Dmu-+--Ss--+---Pv---+ |
| | | | | |
LEFT-WALL the data.n were.v received.v .
Note that Dmc implies plural only while Dmu implies mass-only.
This ambiguity results in unease.
The version with "was" is unambiguous and correct.
--
Eitan Adler
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