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Moon7296 Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Unlockable / unscrewable?/ unstringable?

It is said unlockable(0) is structurally ambiguous: not + lockable or able to be unlocked.

My source says unscrewable(1), unstringable(2) and unrollable(3) are the likes of unlockable.

I don't understant that because I can't find words stringable(or unstringable), screwable and unrollable etc, in dictionary when I can find lockable and unlockable.

Do you think #1,2 and 3 are the same case as #0?
  

Top answer

People might make up words that make sense in a particular context, following some pattern, but they are not words that would make the dictionary, or ever be used again. Unlock - a verb, meaning to change the state of a lock. It is the opposite of lock .

  • People might make up words that make sense in a particular context, following some pattern, but they are not words that would make the dictionary, or ever be used again.
  • Unlock - a verb, meaning to change the state of a lock.
  • It is the opposite of lock .
  • Unlockable - something that cannot be locked.
  • " It's the only context I could think of where someone might make up the word stringable .
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1 Answers
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People might make up words that make sense in a particular context, following some pattern, but they are not words that would make the dictionary, or ever be used again.

Unlock - a verb, meaning to change the state of a lock. It is the opposite of lock.

Unlockable - something that cannot be locked.

string is not a common verb except in phrasal expressions "

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