Wednesday 22 September 2021

Micro Category Of Thing: Two-Pronged Implements

Halliday & Matthiessen (1999: 196):
Two-pronged implements: scissors, pliers, tweezers, tongs, shears, clippers
General category: 'object (material)'
Particular features: inherent plural (hence pronominalised as they: the scissors/ they are in the drawer)', counted as a pair of... (two pairs of shears, not two shears), but not referred to as both (contrast a pair of shoes, both shoes).