Post by cloudhurler on Apr 17, 2023 5:22:06 GMT
In Letters from the Labyrinth 327, Brian praises the following David sentence, "As our idols and friends die all around us, such recollect inevitably becomes autobiography." It's a beauty; true, too. But "such recollect"?
My Concise OED is in storage, and I no longer work in a library, but I'm trying to parse what's going on in that sentence.
Now, "recollect" does have a noun-form, but per the Collins English Dictionary, it's "a member of a former Franciscan order of monks established in 16th-century France".
That doesn't seem right.
Now, "recollect" does have a noun-form, but per the Collins English Dictionary, it's "a member of a former Franciscan order of monks established in 16th-century France".
That doesn't seem right.
Alternately, this could be anthimeria of the sort that Gerard Manley Hopkins got up to — transforming a verb into a noun. But since there is already a noun-form in "recollection", I'm not sure why that'd be done.
And if it is a noun, would we opt for singular or plural? Thinking about idols and/or friends would require recollections; in which case, "becomes" would need to be "become". But, if being used more broadly — think of the stand-in "pondering" — that is, just the act or recollecting (rather than recollecting, specifically for each idol and friend), then "becomes" works.
But that still leaves us with the quandary of why noun a verb when there's already a noun-form?
And if it is a noun, would we opt for singular or plural? Thinking about idols and/or friends would require recollections; in which case, "becomes" would need to be "become". But, if being used more broadly — think of the stand-in "pondering" — that is, just the act or recollecting (rather than recollecting, specifically for each idol and friend), then "becomes" works.
But that still leaves us with the quandary of why noun a verb when there's already a noun-form?
Of course, "recollect" could be used as a verb — but with the sentence having some ellipsis; that is, some structurally implied grammar.
"As our idols and friends die all around us, such [memories of those that we] recollect inevitably becomes autobiography." Or something akin to that.
Maybe. I could be needlessly overclocking my brain on something self-evident.
David, would you be so good as to elucidate for a Wisconsinite that likely just has too much cheese on the brain?
"As our idols and friends die all around us, such [memories of those that we] recollect inevitably becomes autobiography." Or something akin to that.
Maybe. I could be needlessly overclocking my brain on something self-evident.
David, would you be so good as to elucidate for a Wisconsinite that likely just has too much cheese on the brain?