Re: Errors in man pages, here: random(4): Singular/Plural

["Michael Kerrisk (man-pages)" <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>]

Hi Jakub,

On 4/27/20 4:14 PM, Jakub Wilk wrote:
> * Michael Kerrisk (man-pages) <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>, 2020-04-20, 08:12:
>>> vary → varies ?
>>>
>>> "This file gives the size of the entropy pool.  The semantics of this file "
>>> "vary across kernel versions:"
>>
>> "semantics" is considered a plural noun, so "vary" is right.
> 
> I don't think that's correct. Despite the trailing "s", "semantics" is 
> not plural; it's uncountable.
> 
> https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/semantics includes 
> the following examples:
> 
>    The semantics of the language _is_ based on a translation, ...
> 
>    Action semantics _is_ useful for reasoning about language implementations.

So, this to me comes closest to how I use the word:

https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/semantics

[[
1 the study of the meaning of words and phrases
2 formal the meaning of a word or expression

GRAMMAR: Singular or plural verb?

In meaning 1, semantics is followed by a singular verb: 
  Semantics is not the same as syntax.
In meaning 2, semantics can be followed by a singular or plural verb: 
  The semantics of this phrase is/are difficult to pin down.
]]

Obviously there's a bit of variation in what people accept,
but for me, in meaning 2 (which matches the case in the man-page),
I'd always expect a plural.

And then I was about to say: "and it seems the original author
of the text was of the same opinion". But then I checked the
git log...

But do a Google or some such search for "semantics is" vs
"semantics are", and you'll see that the latter is very common.

Cheers,

Michael

-- 
Michael Kerrisk
Linux man-pages maintainer; http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/
Linux/UNIX System Programming Training: http://man7.org/training/