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Thu 14 May, 2015 08:00 pm
I’m editing a piece of writing and it contains ‘self-government’ used as a noun adjunct. Now, ‘government’ is used all the time as a noun adjunct (for example, ‘government department’, ‘government policy’), but using ‘self-government’ in this way just seems to me to be wrong, though I can’t find a definitive ruling on this (or on a similar construction). The actual term in the document is ‘self-government institution’. I’ve googled it and it does give results, but the usage seems to be confined to India. Any help would be most appreciated. It may be that I am reacting negatively to the term simply because it’s not one I’ve come across before.
Cheers, Andy
@andy321,
There is nothing unusual about the term self-government. It simply means you (or they) govern yourself (themselves).
But, I agree that the phrase "‘self-government institution" sounds strange and out of place. Probably most often "self-government" is applied to an individual person or thing--something that "runs" or manages itself. In that context, the concept of an "institution" doesn't really come into play.
@layman,
Sorry, I probably didn’t make myself clear enough. I don’t have a problem with ‘self-government’; as you say, it’s not unusual. It’s purely the use of ‘self-government’ as a noun adjunct that I’m having difficulty with. In this case, it’s in the term ‘self-government institution’ but I’d also find struggle with it in similar terms such as ‘self-government department’ or ‘self-government organisation’. What I want to know, though, is whether this usage is truly ungrammatical or merely strange sounding.
@andy321,
How about such uses as:
1. Self-government principles (principles of self-government)
2. Self-government disasters (cases where self-government done gone plumb wrong)
I don't see a problem with those kinds of uses, but I'm no grammar expert, ya know?
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