Functions of Gerundial constructions in Newspaper style

Chapter – I : Theoretical base of functions of Gerundial constructions in Newspaper style

1. 
   Gerund and its functions. Description of Gerund in Grammar books
   

In our attempt to describe and explain the English gerund, it is necessary to start with a broader category to which it belongs. Since the gerund is an English verb form we first move our attention to English verbs. Although the gerund is not necessarily a typical verb, it is normally classified under the category of verbs. This is the reason why we start our analysis of gerund with elaborating on English verbs.
The term grammatical category is often used by linguists to denote a certain group of elements recognized in the description of particular languages. There are differing views on what grammatical categories really stand for, how many of them there are, or how to classify them. Still, most grammarians have for a long time operated with nine word classes as main grammatical categories, which are also called parts of speech: noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, article and interjection. ¹
Morphologically, verbs can be characterized by the categories (sometimes called the secondary grammatical categories) of:

• 
  tense
  
• 
  person
  
• 
  number
  
• 
  mood
  
• 
  voice
  
• 
  aspect.
  

Syntactically, verbs can be defined as words functioning as the head of the so-called verb phrase. A verb phrase consists of one or more verbs, and operates as the verb in the clause. Each verb may appear in such a phrase in several different forms:

• 
  a base form (e.g. pay)
  
• 
  an –s form (pays)
  
• 
  a past form (payed)
  
• 
  an ing-form (paying)
  
• 
  a past/passive (-ed) participle (payed).
  

Functions of verb forms

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1992:70) indicate all possible functions of the English verb forms (which we have talked about in connection with full verbs) in a tabular form:

Table 1 Functions of verb forms

FORM	EXAMPLE	FUNCTIONS
(1) base	Call drink put	(a) all the present tense except 3^rd person singular: I/you/we/they call (b) imperative: Call at once (c) subjunctive: He demanded that she call him (d) infinitive; the bare infinitive: He may call; and the to-infinitive: He wants her to call
(2) –s form (3^rd person singular present)	Calls drinks puts	3^rd person singular present tense: He/she/it calls
(3) past	called drank put	past tense: He called yesterday
(4) –ing participle (present participle)	calling drinking putting	(a) progressive aspect: He’s calling you (b)non-finite –ing clauses: Calling a spade a spade
(5) –ed participle (past participle)	called drunk put	(a) perfective aspect: He has drunk the water (b) passive voice: He is called

The position of the traditional gerund is indicated and developed more in terms of “a complex gradience”, a display of the –ing forms whose opposing ends are represented by deverbal nouns which are purely nominal and participles which are purely verbal. Deverbal nouns ending in –ing are typically regular concrete count nouns representing a completed activity, as in “some paintings of Brown’s” or “Brown’s paintings of his daughter” where they can be replaced freely by other concrete nouns like “pictures”. On the other hand, verbal nouns are abstract noncount “gerund-like” nouns that denote an activity in progress. Like other nouns, they allow determination by articles, premodification by adjectives and postmodification by an of‑construction: “The painting of Brown” and “Brown’s deft painting of his daughter”. ²

The following cases in gradience display some of the nominal features, as modification of the –ing form by a possessive noun or pronoun or its function as a subject or object in a sentence: “Brown’s deftly painting his daughter is a delight to watch” and “I dislike Brown’s painting his daughters” .
However, these examples visibly display also some verbal characteristics, like the modification by an adverb or the transitive nature of the form which allows a direct complementation by an object, comparing to verbal nouns which require the abovementioned of‑construction. Such a combination of both nominal and verbal features is then traditionally referred to as “the gerund” and will be focused on in the present work.
The gerund is to be further distinguished from the present participle –ing form where no premodifier or other clue appears and potential ambiguity may therefore arise: generally, a structure functioning nominally (“Painting a child is difficult”) is labelled as a gerund, whereas a structure functioning adverbially is to be classified as a participle: “Painting a child that morning, I quite forgot the time”.
In spite of this traditional distinction provided above, the authors of this grammar book prefer to reject the term “gerund” and cover both –ing forms under an umbrella term “participle”, listing several ground reasons for doing so: lack of correspondence between the traditional Latin use of this term and its English counterpart in terms of modality, common use in nonfinite clauses, potential unclarity in the gerund – deverbal noun – verbal noun distinctions (Quirk et al 1065) in some cases. By doing so, the excess complication in the binary distinction in terminology is avoided and it is focused rather on expressing the complexity of all participial items.
The participial –ing clauses corresponding to the term “gerund” as it is used in this work are further mentioned in the CGEL in chapter dealing with nominal clauses. The nominal –ing clauses may function as a:

• 
  subject “Watching television keeps them out of mischief.”
  
• 
  direct object “He enjoys playing practical jokes.”
  
• 
  subject complement “Her first job had been selling computers.”
  
• 
  appositive “His current research, investigating attitudes to racial stereotypes, takes up most of his time.”
  
• 
  adjectival complementation “They are busy preparing a barbecue.”
  

prepositional complementation “I’m responsible for drawing up the budget.”
“We conclude that there is no difference of form, function, or interpretation that correlates systematically with the traditional distinction between the gerund and the present participle. The distinction introduces an unmotivated complication into the grammar: it is one of the features of traditional grammar that should be discarded.”
Consequently, they opt for a more “viable” or “sustainable” approach: labelling both forms by a single compound term “gerund-participle” which is to cover the functional-syntactic and semantic fields of both forms³.
The CamGEL therefore classifies all –ing forms into these three groups:

• 
  gerundial noun “She had witnessed the killing of the birds.”
  
• 
  gerund-participle form of verb a) “He was expelled for killing the birds.”
  

b) “They are entertaining the prime minister.”

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