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*The child aborted.
Why are these OK:
The pilot aborted the take off. The take off aborted. And the latter of these is not: The woman aborted her child. *The child aborted.
For the same reason that you cannot say "I dug the hole" and then substitute "The hole dug."
In "The woman aborted her child" the woman is the subject and she is the one doing the verb. "Child" is just the object. And I think in your first pair, it is much more common to say "The take-off WAS aborted", which also preserves the subject-object-verb pattern in "The pilot aborted the take-off", even though the subject (pilot) is now only implied. Similarly, you CAN say "The child was aborted".
<For the same reason that you cannot say "I dug the hole" and then substitute "The hole dug.">
And yet we can say: I closed the window with difficulty. The window closed with difficulty.
Abort: 2 : to become checked in development so as to degenerate or remain rudimentary
>"The child aborted..." (This is incomplete. In this case you're saying the child aborted something, but we don't know what he/she did, as you didn't complete the sentence. Saying "the child aborted" does not mean the same thing as "The woman aborted her child." What I think you wanted to say was:
"The child WAS aborted." > A miscarriage is also an abortion, so why do we need to mention or imply an Agent? "The baby aborted" sounds fine to me.
<A miscarriage is also an abortion, so why do we need to mention or imply an Agent? >
Can we say, "the fetus miscarried"?
Pos, in English, miscarriages and abortions are things that happen to a fetus, not things a fetus does itself. So the fetus is usually not the subject of the verb, but the object.
<<"The baby aborted" sounds fine to me. >>
Donny and Pos, all I can say is I'VE never heard it said that way, and it does not sound correct to me. As far as the window closing example, well, that's a whole different matter -- windows can close OR be closed in English. But other verbs, like abort and dig, DON'T work both ways.
<Uriel Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:19 am GMT
Pos, in English, miscarriages and abortions are things that happen to a fetus, not things a fetus does itself. So the fetus is usually not the subject of the verb, but the object. > http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.00034.x Top of column 2 on page one: "unfortunately the fetus miscarried."
And this, Pos:
The baby’s size will depend on the length of time the baby continued to grow and any medical condition of the baby. The appearance of the baby may depend on any time lapse between death and when the baby miscarried, a particular medical condition and/or the manner of delivery. However, a fully developed, normal baby that miscarries at twelve weeks is approximately 7-9 cms in length while at sixteen weeks would be approximately 16-18 cm long (or about the size of an adult’s hand).
<The appearance of the baby may depend on any time lapse between death and when the baby miscarried, a particular>
See, it does work!
"The child aborted" is a phrase but not a complete sentence.
It is the short form of "the child who has been aborted". The word "aborted" is an adjective in this case to modify "the child". Take off should be spelt either "takeoff" or "take-off" as a noun.
<<Top of column 2 on page one: "unfortunately the fetus miscarried.">>
Okay, then I stand corrected; I guess you can use it with "miscarried". I'm still more used to it being the mother who miscarries, or has a miscarriage. But you still can't say "the child aborted".
<<Samson Mon Jan 30, 2006 3:31 pm GMT
"The child aborted" is a phrase but not a complete sentence. It is the short form of "the child who has been aborted". The word "aborted" is an adjective in this case to modify "the child". >> Not always, Simon: "The woman survived, but the fetus aborted." www.mazeministry.com/incorrect/davis.htm "They say they vaccinated on day X and the fetus aborted on day Y." www.vet.utk.edu/news/wnv/wnv_birthprobs.shtml When Ricky's wife carried a fetus twenty weeks in her womb, the fetus aborted early and what did the Senator and his wife do with the XXXX? www.iidb.org/vbb/archive/index.php |