alderson@polya.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson) (01/24/89)
"four and twenty blackbirds" was a MARKED construction even when the poem was new, used by the poet for its rhythmical structure and markedness. Marked constructions such as this are interesting for what they say about the unmarked ones; they don't provide counter-arguments to claims based on the unmarked ones. Rich Alderson Stanford University
mac@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU (Alex Colvin) (01/26/89)
> "four and twenty blackbirds" was a MARKED construction
What about seventeen (seven-ten)? These are marked because they're
petrified. But it looks like this used to be the norm.