The Present-day English Gerund System

Charlotte MaekelbergheLanguage Arts & Disciplines
The Present-day English Gerund System

Author: Charlotte Maekelberghe

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

ISBN: 9783110686661

Category: Language Arts & Disciplines

Page: 285

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This study offers a first comprehensive synchronic account of the Present-day English gerundial system. Most synchronic studies of gerunds have hitherto focused on the verbal gerund, scrutinizing its categorial status or comparing it with other non-finite clausal structures. A systematic comparison with its nominal counterpart, however, is lacking. Based on a detailed empirical analysis of lexico-grammar and semantics, this study develops an innovative cognitive-constructionist model of the English gerund system which depicts the usage profiles of nominal and verbal gerunds in terms of probabilistic trends rather than by means of categorical labels. It is shown that a better understanding of the functioning of the English gerund system requires a description that operates on multiple levels, accounting for both the abstract construal gerunds can impose on an event as well as the token-level constraints on variation between the two gerund types. This multifaceted approach, it is argued, not only offers a new perspective on the configuration of ing-forms in Present-day English, it can also be of relevance to the description of other complex grammatical structures.

Meaning and the English Verb

Geoffrey N. LeechLanguage Arts & Disciplines
Meaning and the English Verb

Author: Geoffrey N. Leech

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781317867951

Category: Language Arts & Disciplines

Page: 152

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Every language has its peculiar problems of meaning for the foreign learner. In the English language, some of the biggest yet most fascinating problems are concentrated in the area of the finite verb phrase: in particular, tense, aspect, mood and modality. Meaning and the English Verb describes these fields in detail for teachers and advanced students of English as a foreign or second language. This new third edition uses up-to-date examples to show differences and similarities between American and British english, reflecting a great deal of recent research in this area. It also takes account of the subtle changes which are taking place in the language today. In print for over 30 years, Meaning and the English Verb has established itself as a recognised authority on the meaning and use of verb constructions in English. This updated third edition will ensure that it remains an invaluable text for teachers and students of English worldwide.

An Historical Syntax of the English Language

Fredericus Theodorus VisserEnglish language
An Historical Syntax of the English Language

Author: Fredericus Theodorus Visser

Publisher: Brill Archive

ISBN: 9004071423

Category: English language

Page: 688

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The aim of this study is to provide an outline of the development, from the earliest times to the present day, of all the English syntatical constructions with a verbal form as their nucleus. Professor Visser's description is based on a very extensive collection of documentary material covering every kind of writing in prose and poetry in the Old, Middle and Modern periods, drawing on quotations illustrating syntactical phenomena in Bosworth & Toller, O.E.D., M.M.E.D., E.D.D., and D.O.S.T., but also making reference to obsolete usages not found in any grammar, and to the views of English and American grammarians of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries on the various syntactical constructions. The volumes of this work originally appeared in the early sixties and seventies and were well received by readers and reviewers. Volumes 1 and 2 underwent correction in the light of these early reactions. We should like to think that this work will continue to be available to the scholarly world without great increases in the price. We are however only reprinting the individual volumes in small numbers, and so we have decided that in order to guarantee a consistent reprint and pricing policy for the future, the work should be available henceforth only as a set of four volumes.

English Modality

Juana I. Marín-ArreseLanguage Arts & Disciplines
English Modality

Author: Juana I. Marín-Arrese

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

ISBN: 9783110286328

Category: Language Arts & Disciplines

Page: 458

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The book presents new issues and areas of work in modality and evidentiality in English(es), and in relation to other European languages (French, Galician, Lithuanian, Spanish). Given the complexity of the relations among modal and evidential expressions, their constant diachronic evolution, and the variation found in different English-speaking areas, and in different genres and discourse domains, the volume addresses the following issues: the conceptual nature of modality, the relationship between the domains of modality and evidentiality, the evolution and current status of the modal auxiliaries and other modal expressions, the relationship with neighbouring grammatical categories (tense, aspect, mood), and the variation in different discourse domains and genres, in modelling stance and discourse identities.

The Perfect and the Preterite in Contemporary and Earlier English

Johan ElsnessLanguage Arts & Disciplines
The Perfect and the Preterite in Contemporary and Earlier English

Author: Johan Elsness

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

ISBN: 9783110810264

Category: Language Arts & Disciplines

Page: 447

View: 110

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The future of English linguistics as envisaged by the editors of Topics in English Linguistics lies in empirical studies which integrate work in English linguistics into general and theoretical linguistics on the one hand, and comparative linguistics on the other. The TiEL series features volumes that present interesting new data and analyses, and above all fresh approaches that contribute to the overall aim of the series, which is to further outstanding research in English linguistics.