Newsgroups: comp.ai.nat-lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!satisfied.apocalypse.org!news.mathworks.com!uunet!allegra!ulysses!walid
From: walid@research.att.com (Walid Saba)
Subject: Re: urgent ditransitive verb needed!
Message-ID: <walid.795212915@research.att.com>
Sender: netnews@ulysses.homer.att.com (Shankar Ishwar)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974
References: <531@mango.ukc.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 20:28:35 GMT
Lines: 34

A.M.L.Fowler@ukc.ac.uk (amlf) writes:

>I need to find a ditransitive verb who's subject is not normally
>human, but the only ditransitive verbs I can think of are ones
>like:

>     give  (The boy gave the man the book)
>     sell  (The boy sold the man the book)
>     show  (The boy showed the man the book)
>     tell  (The boy told the man a story)

>etc. etc., which all take very human subjects.

>I suspect that there isn't such a verb in English, but if anyone can
>think of one can they mail me (I need the example in the next
>hour or so :-)

     inanimate objects are used also, metaohorically, as
     subjects. for example, a book, a paper, a TV show,
     a (news) article, can "show", "tell", "describe",
     "sell", an idea, a message, a thought, etc to someone...
     So, here are your three objects and an inanimate subject!

     Am I way off the mark? 

>Thanks very much,
>Aliy

	(metaphors: This pictures says a lot to me...)

     regards,

     Walid Saba

