Hotels-dieu, chevaux-vapeur, porte-manteaux et porte-plume

From: Glen Gordon
Message: 5359
Date: 2001-01-07

Piotr:
>Just in case you should think this is mere linguistic sophistry, note >how
>the plural is formed: h�tels-Dieu, not h�tel-Dieux.

I know that. Note also the plural /chevaux-vapeur/... Now maybe you have a
point about porte-manteau come to think of it (porte-manteaux, pl.), but
then, the plural of porte-plume is the same as the singular. So what is the
difference between the compounds /porte-manteau/ and /porte-plume/ then? ...

- gLeN

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