ared forms are subject to, namely, the nounal conversion of the gerund and, correspondingly, the adjectival conversion of the participle.
Compare the gerund-noun conversional pairs: your airing the room to take an airing before going to bed; his breeding his son to the profession - < span align = "justify"> a person of unimpeachable
breeding; their calling him a liar - the youth's choice of
a calling in life.
Compare the participle-adjective conversional pairs: animals living in the jungle living languages; a man never
daring an open argument - a daring inventor; a car passing
by a passing passion.
Having recourse to the evidence of the analogy type, as a counter-thesis against the attempted demonstration, one might point out cases of categorial ambiguity, where the category of the qualifying element remains open to either interpretation, such as the "typing instructor", the "boiling kettle", or the like. However, cases like these present a trivial homonymy which, being resolved, can itself be taken as evidence in favour of, not against, the two ing-forms differing from each other on the categorial lines. Cf.: p align="justify"> the typing instructor? the instructor of typing; the instructor who is typing; the boiling kettle? the kettle for boiling; the kettle that is boiling
At this point, the analysis of the cases presenting the clear-cut gerund versus present participle difference can be considered as fulfilled. The two ing-forms in question are shown as possessing categorially differential properties establishing them as two different verbids in the system of the English verb. p align="justify"> And this casts a light on the categorial nature of the half-gerund, since it is essentially based on the positional verbid neutralisation. As a matter of fact, let us examine the following examples:
You may count on my doing all that is necessary on such occasions. may count on me doing all that is necessary on such occasions.
The possessive subject of the ing-form in the first of the two sentences is clearly disclosed as a structural adjunct of a nounal collocation. But the objective subject of the ing-form in the second sentence, by virtue of its morphological constitution, cannot be associated with a noun: this would contradict the established regularities of the categorial compatibility. The casal-type government (direct, or representative-pronominal) in the collocation being lost (or, more precisely, being non-existent), the ing-form of the collocation can only be understood as a participle. This interpretation is strongly supported by comparing half-gerund constructions with clear-cut participial constructions governed by perception verbs:
To think of him turning sides! To see him turning
sides! I don't like Mrs. Thomson complaining of her loneliness. - I can't listen to Mrs. Thomson complaining of her loneliness. Did you ever hear of a girl playing a trombone? -Did you ever hear a girl playing a trombone?
On the other hand, the position of the participle in the collocation is syntactically peculiar, since semantic accent in such constructions is made on the fact or event described, ie on the situational content of it, with the processual substance as its core. This can be demonstrated by question-tests:
(The first half-gerund construction in the above series)? To think of what in connection with him? (The second half-gerund construction)? What don't you like about Mrs. Thomson? (The third half-gerund construction)? Which accomplishment of a girl presents a surprise for the speaker? p align="justify"> Hence, the verbid under examination is rather to be interpreted as a transferred participle, or a gerundial participle, the latter term seeming to relevantly disclose the essence of the nature of this form; though the existing name " ; half-gerund "is as good as any other, provided the true character of the denoted element of the system is understood.
Our final remark in connection with the undertaken observation will be addressed to linguists who, while recognising the categorial difference between the gerund and the present participle, will be inclined to analyse the half-gerund (the gerundial participle ) on exactly the same basis as the full gerund, refusing to draw a demarcation line between the latter two forms and simply ascribing the occurrence of the common case subje...
