English grammar and such: On the Nature of Bookshelfs

[Steve]

--- "Geoff Bannister" <gbannister10 at ...> wrote:
>
> ---  "Lee Storm \(God Is The Healing Force\)" 
> <n2fgc@> wrote:
> >
> > [Steve B]:
> > | But the even more complicated matter is Bookshelf Speakers.
> > | 
> > | ...
> > | We are not talking about two bookshelves, we are talking about
> > | two bookshelf speakers, which are referred to in short as
> > | "Bookshelfs".
> > | 
> > | Which of course bring up the very problem at hand, in this 
> > | context, is 'Bookshelfs' correct when referring to more 
> > | than one Bookshelf Speaker? 
> > | 
> > | Inquirin
> > 
> > [Lee]:
> > You're still talking about more than one speaker, however, 
> > you're using the style type "bookshelf" rather than the 
> > number of speakers.  Since the style type is in the singular
> > "Bookshelf," ... the fact that you want more than one still 
> > doesn't change it's name.  saying you want two bookshelfs 
> > ... seems correct to  me.
> 
> Geoff:
> I think the point is that, in this instance, "Bookshelf" is
> functioning as an adjective to "Shelf" or "shelves" and since
> adjectives are no longer inflected in English, "Bookshelf 
> speakers" would be the correct form.
> 
> 

bboyminn:

Of course, 'Bookshelf Speakers' is correct, but in casual 
conversation we refer to the singular as bookshelf and
floorstander, and the plural as bookshelfs and floorstanders.

With the word 'speakers' in, the answer is clear, but what 
about without the word 'speaker', yet still referring to 
multiple speakers?

So, is anyone going to go for the contraction bookshelf's
where the "'s" indicates that the word 'speaker' has been left 
out of the phrase? (just kidding)

Steve/bboyminn