Consider the following excerpt:
For several generations, my father's family has owned a cottage on California's North Coast, in Mendocino County. Valley Inn is the name it was given, which is unfortunate, as it neither lies in or near a valley nor operates (has ever operated) as an inn.
The structure of the last independent clause of the second sentence seems to be
It neither
[VERB 1]
nor[VERB 2]
or[VERB 3]
,
where [VERB 1]
is "lies . . ." [VERB 2]
is "operates," and [VERB 3]
is "has ever operated."
My claim is that the author has left out, but implied, an "or" between "operates" and "has ever operated." (In addition, the author has placed "has ever operated" in parentheses.)
So I read the excerpted sentence above as logically equivalent to
. . . neither lies in or near a valley nor operates or has ever operated as an inn.
Is it grammatical to embed a "[VERB 2] or [VERB 3]"
expression within a "neither [VERB 1] nor [VERB X]
" expression, to make
neither
[VERB 1]
nor ([VERB 2]
or[VERB 3]
)?
I'm looking for an explanation in addition to a "yes or no" answer.
One might also comment on whether the sentence uses good style.
In addition, consider this adjustment:
. . . neither lies in or near a valley nor operates (indeed, has ever operated) as an inn.