From Chris Jefferies
Of course there’s an adjectival form of the word “insect”
(Feedback, 4 July).
It’s—er—”insect”.
A word’s function is defined by what it is used for, and the form “insect” is
used as an adjective as well as a noun. We say “mammalian growth”, “bacterial
growth”, and “insect growth”.
It’s not particularly unusual for a word to fill more than one role. Would
you suggest that because “sheep” fills the role of both singular and plural that
there is therefore no plural of “sheep” and we should invent one?
chris@stowey.demon.co.uk
