0
Hanuman_2000 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
woman alive
Hello,
1. The practice of burning a woman alive on the pyre of her husband is called ......
Does alive here an adjective? If yes , then of what kind "attributive" or "predicative"?
1. The practice of burning a woman alive on the pyre of her husband is called ......
Does alive here an adjective? If yes , then of what kind "attributive" or "predicative"?
Top answer
Hello H2K I would call it an adjective, and predicative. I would say that it functions here as an object complement. But other members may have a different view.
- Hello H2K I would call it an adjective, and predicative.
- I would say that it functions here as an object complement.
- But other members may have a different view.
- MrP
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
53 Answers
0
Hello H2K
I would call it an adjective, and predicative. I would say that it functions here as an object complement.
But other members may have a different view.
MrP
I would call it an adjective, and predicative. I would say that it functions here as an object complement.
But other members may have a different view.
MrP
00
Hello, Hanuman.
The practice of burning a woman alive on the pyre of her husband is called ......
"Alive" is certainly an adjective, so I basically agree with MrPedantic.
But there is more to say about "alive": it is one of the few adjectives in English (such as alone and awake) which are generally used pospositively, that is, a
The practice of burning a woman alive on the pyre of her husband is called ......
"Alive" is certainly an adjective, so I basically agree with MrPedantic.
But there is more to say about "alive": it is one of the few adjectives in English (such as alone and awake) which are generally used pospositively, that is, a
00
Hello Miriam,
I think the practice that you asked is called SATI, and I am not sure if it is an English word.
I think the practice that you asked is called SATI, and I am not sure if it is an English word.
00
0
Hello
OED says the woman thus burned is called "suttee" in English ("sati" in Hindi) and the practice called as "sutteeism".
By the way what is the difference in the meaning between "They burn a woman dead" and "They burn a dead woman" or between "I often drink coffee black" and "I often drink black coffee"?
paco
OED says the woman thus burned is called "suttee" in English ("sati" in Hindi) and the practice called as "sutteeism".
By the way what is the difference in the meaning between "They burn a woman dead" and "They burn a dead woman" or between "I often drink coffee black" and "I often drink black coffee"?
paco
00
Miriam
But there is more to say about "alive": it is one of the few adjectives in English (such as alone and awake) which are generally used pospositively, that is, after the noun they modify. So, in this case, I wouldn't say "alive" is an object complement. Rather, the whole noun phrase "a woman alive" is the direct object. Let's suppose that instead of burning women
00
Hello Miriam and MrP
I am fascinated with your discussion because now I'm interested in learning this sort of constructions.
What I would like to say first of all is that I rephrase "They burned the woman alive" as "The woman was alive when they burned her". That is this statement contains two predicates: "They burned her" and "She was alive then". I personally feel the emphasis
I am fascinated with your discussion because now I'm interested in learning this sort of constructions.
What I would like to say first of all is that I rephrase "They burned the woman alive" as "The woman was alive when they burned her". That is this statement contains two predicates: "They burned her" and "She was alive then". I personally feel the emphasis
00
There is something adverbial going on here. The idea is that the woman is burned while (she is still) alive.
On the other hand, "The practice of burning a [ beautiful / crazy] woman is called gynostopy" does not give the sense of burning her 'while she is beautiful', or 'while she is crazy' .
"alive" not being the resultative state, I don't see an exact parallel
On the other hand, "The practice of burning a [ beautiful / crazy] woman is called gynostopy" does not give the sense of burning her 'while she is beautiful', or 'while she is crazy' .
"alive" not being the resultative state, I don't see an exact parallel
00
Hello CJ
How about this? "I was shocked to see my Japanese girlfriend eating fish alive. She ate them with her intensely alive face." Does this sound unnatural to you?
paco
How about this? "I was shocked to see my Japanese girlfriend eating fish alive. She ate them with her intensely alive face." Does this sound unnatural to you?
paco
00
Sorry for the interruption. I wonder if 'alive' would be able to work as an sentential adverb. I'd read it as an object complement, as MrP does.
0
Related Questions