Talk:dark

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Noun example 3. Is Darks a word? Griffinofwales (talk) 21:19, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

Do you not do laundry?--Brett (talk) 00:06, 4 March 2010 (UTC)

That makes sense. Had never thought of it in that way. I was thinking more along the lines of a dark cave etc. Griffinofwales (talk) 00:07, 4 March 2010 (UTC)

Is a fused modifier-head analysis better here?

I am skeptical that dark is a noun here, except for when it clearly has plural inflection. I’m talking about cases like afraid of the dark, in the dark, before/after dark. I just don’t see the justification that dark here is a noun. This seems like a straightforward fused modifier-head analysis, and AdjP complement of a preposition, no? Perhaps there is a convincing argument for treating dark as a noun here, but alas I am in the dark.

On page 410 in the CGEL, they write:

Bare NPs are used for times of day following the prepositions at, by, before, until, after, as in [20v]; note, however, that morning, daytime, evening, and dark take in + the instead of at: in the / *at morning.

Here, it seems like they treat dark as a noun in the PP in the dark. I am skeptical of this analysis. At first, I thought dark is similar to daytime: in the dark, in the daytime, but daytime can be used without a determiner, not to mention the possibility of plural daytimes. The same goes for nighttime and nightfall.

Right now, it is daytime in London.

Right now, it is dark in London. [This reads adjective dark to me]

Nightfall is approaching.

^???Dark is approaching. [Actually, I find this ungrammatical]

I did find this example sentence in the regular English wiktionary page for noun dark, but I find this sentence questionable.

^?Dark surrounds us completely.

This seems like nonce usage to me.

With regards to modification, in the dark doesn’t really take modification, probably because it is fossilised/an idiom.

I did find in the complete dark on the web, but I find this questionable. In fact, the CGEL claims that in the nude has a fused-modifier head, but I was also able to find an attestation of in the complete nude. I think these cases are marginal/nonce cases, or else dialectal (non-standard), or maybe just errors. I would prefer completely in the dark.

What do you think @Brett? ~2026-29890-93 (talk) 16:26, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

perhaps this can also apply for dead in in the dead of night ~2026-29890-93 (talk) 16:55, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

I don't see any reason for saying either dark or dead is an adjective here, given NPs like

1. after dark
2. the cool dark of subway stations
3. something in the darks of his eyes sparked

These aren't well captured by "adjective with an understood noun". The dark doesn't mean 'the dark one' or 'the dark thing'; it denotes darkness, night, or a dark region/condition. The fact that darkness is preferred in some contexts is just a lexical-choice fact, not a category diagnostic. Brett (talk) 18:14, 18 May 2026 (UTC)