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1、Linguistic Analyses of English Non-finite -ing Verb FormsAbstractEnglish main verbs always play a dominant role in the sentence. Depending on whether they are marked in terms of tense or mood, verbs are classified into finite and non-finite. Some grammarians, represented by Otto Jespersen (1933;1940

2、), A. J. Thomson(1980) and A. V. Martinet(1980), think that infinitive, participle(-ing participle and -ed/en participle) and gerund are three non-finite verb forms. But other grammarians like Randolph Quirk (1974;1980;1985), Sidney Greenbaum (1974;1980;1985), Geoffrey Leech(1980;1985), Jan Svartvik

3、(1980;1985), etc. hold the view that there are only two non-finite verb forms infinitive and participle(ibid). They use the term “-ing clause” to cover the two forms -ing participle and gerund wholly, but they simultaneously point out that -ing clauses contain nominal characters. Ronald Wardhaugh(19

4、95:25) mentioned “class boundaries” between verbal noun(gerund) and adjective participle. John Sinclair (1990) borrows the term “phase” to explain the collocation of verbs in a sentence. Rodney Huddleston (1988:63) uses the term “catenative” to discuss the usages of non-finite complements, but in hi

5、s book “the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language”(2002:78-81) he uses other grammatical terms like “gerundial noun”, “participial adjective”, and “gerund-participle form of verb” to describe the characters of non-finite -ing verb form. In China, the same views as mentioned above also exist in m

6、ost English grammar books. Zhang Daozhen(1995) and Bo Bing(2004) approve the classification given by Otto Jespersen et al for nearly half a century; Wang Jialing (1980)and Zhang Zhenbang(2003) agree to the viewpoint of Randolph Quirk et al. Furthermore, in recent years some key journals and periodic

7、als have issued many articles titled by the terms of present/past participle, gerund or nominalized verbal noun etc., which seems to lead to chaos for most learners seeking to understand the -ing verb form.Considering the part mentioned above, the writer of this paper has found that there is a wide

8、disagreement among scholars as to the classification of the non-finite -ing verb form and its usages. The terms and characteristics of the -ing form are often mixed and misunderstood and its usages have also proved ambiguous. Frankly speaking, in the field of grammatical studies more standpoints are

9、 encouraged for the need of different orientations. But in English language learning practice, it is necessary to clarify and define the proper terms for the non-finite -ing verb form. One notional, practical and effective explanation on the -ing form is preferred especially by most EFL learners in

10、Chinas mainland, though teachers could introduce various attitudes to one same language point. Specifically analyzing the characters and functions of the non-finite -ing verb form, the writer in this paper makes his own reasonable and complete explanation from the perspective of linguistics.This pap

11、er consists of seven chapters. Chapter 1 points out the necessity of writing on this topic. Chapter 2 lays out the historical background of the study, where the origin of the -ing verb form and the traditional and modern grammatical study of the non-finite -ing form are briefly discussed. A section

12、is also devoted to the related study on the topic in China.Chapter 3 discusses the necessities to distinguish the English non-finite -ing form from the perspective of language cognitive environment, where the paper has explained the reasons why the grammatical point of the non-finite -ing form is le

13、ss important for those ESL learners and English-native speakers than those EFL learners in Chinas mainland. This chapter also points out that various terms and explanations of the non-finite -ing verb form need to be standardized and certain relatively-fixed terms and logical explanations of the -in

14、g verb form are popular and favorable.Chapter 4 focuses on detailed comparative analyses of the syntactic functions of the non-finite -ing verb form on the basis of many current English sentences (spoken and written), representing their internal character and identity.Chapter 5 analyzes the semantic

15、 meaning of the non-finite -ing form from the perspectives of its genitive and lexical characters. Chapter 6 illustrates some effective ways to clarify the ambiguity of English non-finite -ing verb forms. In the end, on the basis of reasonable analyses, some constructive suggestions and favorable co

16、nclusions will be put forward on this topic.In this thesis, the writer manages to achieve one favorable conclusion through a critical examination of previous discussion. He does not mean to reject all other previous analyses as wrong or worthless. They are valuable and useful analyses which are indi

17、spensable to any search for a unitary meaning. Of course his conclusion is not intended to be the final word on this topic. There is a lot to be desired. The paper hopes to be helpful to further research in this respect.Key words: non-finite -ing verb forms， gerund， -ing participle 摘 要英语句子中，主动词总是起着决

18、定性作用。根据他们是否具有时态和语气标记，动词通常划分为限定动词和非限定动词两大类。以奥托叶斯帕森（Otto Jespersen，1933；1940）、汤姆森（A. J.Thomson，1980）、马丁内（A. V. Martinet，1980）等为代表的一些语法学家认为，非限定动词有三种形式，它们是不定式、分词（含-ing分词和-ed/en分词）和动名词；而以夸克（Randolph Quirk，1974；1980；1985）、格林勃姆（Sidney Greenbaum，1974；1980；1985）、杰弗里利奇（Geoffrey Leech，1980；1985）等为代表的另外一些语法学家认为

19、，非限定动词只有两种形式：不定式和分词。他们用“-ing分句”这一术语来笼统地称呼-ing分词和动名词，但同时也指出“-ing分句”含有名词特征。沃德哈夫（Ronald Wardhaugh，1995：25）曾指出动名词和形容词性分词之间存在“词类界限（class boundaries）”。辛克莱尔（John Sinclair，1990）借用“级阶（phase）”这一术语来解释句子中动词的搭配。赫德斯顿（Rodney Huddleston，1988：63）也曾用“连接（catenative）”这一术语来讨论非限定补语的用法；在剑桥英语语法（2002：78-81）一书中，他又用动名词性名词、分词性

20、形容词和动词的动名词-分词形式来描述非限定动词-ing 形式的特征。在中国，上述观点也先后出现在国内的一些语法书中。张道真（1995）和薄冰（2004）赞成叶斯帕森等人对非限定动词-ing 形式的分类，他们所编写的语法书在中国大陆地区使用了近半个世纪，影响深远；而王嘉龄（1980）和章振邦（2003）却采纳了夸克等人对非限定动词-ing 形式的分类。此外，近年来，国内一些核心英语专业类期刊也相继刊登了若干与动名词、现在分词和动词名词化等术语相关的论文。这些对非限定动词-ing 形式的不同观点导致大多数英语学习者在这一语法点的理解上产生混乱，严重地影响了他们对-ing 形式的掌握。作者发现，语法

21、学家在英语非限定动词-ing 形式的分类和用法上存在着巨大差异。在语法教学过程中，有关英语非限定动词-ing 形式的术语和特征经常被混淆和误解。诚然，在语法研究中，我们鼓励多视角进行研究，但是，在英语教学实践中，有必要对英语非限定动词-ing 形式予以确切的术语和区分。在中国大陆地区当前的外语环境下，一种对-ing 形式的恰当有效地诠释有利于广大英语爱好者尽快对这一语法知识的掌握。本文从语言学的不同视角对非限定动词-ing 形式的特征和功能进行比较细致和全面地分析，进而得出作者自己对-ing 形式的观点。全文共分七章。第一章中，作者指出当前语法界在英语非限定动词-ing 形式的分类和用法上存在

22、巨大差异，并说明写作该论题的必要性。第二章对该论题的相关研究进行了简短的历史回顾，并对-ing 形式的起源、传统语法和现代语法对非限定动词-ing 形式的研究作出了简要讨论。该章还提及本论题在中国大陆地区的研究现状。第三章中，从语言认知环境角度出发，指出中国大陆地区当前的外语环境有别于英语母语习得和二语习得，不利于广大英语学习者更有效地掌握-ing 形式的用法，并讨论区分英语非限定动词-ing 形式的必要性。第四章，作者结合大量鲜活的例句从句法功能角度对非限定动词-ing 形式进行了仔细地比较分析，并指出其内在的特征。第五章从属格和词汇特征角度对非限定动词-ing 形式进行语义分析。第六章列举

23、了几种有效区分非限定动词-ing 形式的方法。第七章，通过以上对非限定动词-ing 形式系统而全面地分析，作者最终给出自己的结论。作者通过对前人有关该论题的研究成果进行批判性地分析，力图得出自己合理的结论。这并不意味着全盘否定前人的优秀成果。作者自己的观点也不可能是完美无缺。作者只希望通过自己的努力探讨来促进语法界对该论题的进一步研究。关键词： 非限定动词 -ing 形式， 动名词， -ing分词ContentsAcknowledgements.iAbstract(English).iiAbstract(Chinese).vChapter 1 Introduction1Chapter 2 Li

24、terature review52.1 The origin of -ing verb form52.2 Traditional, prescriptive and descriptive grammar.72.3 Modern linguistic analyses of English non-finite verb form and others.92.4 Related studies on this topic in China.11Chapter 3 Necessity to distinguish non-finite -ing forms from the perspectiv

25、eof language cognitive environment123.1 Language acquisition and language learning.123.2 Different cognitive environments between ESL and EFL133.3 Necessity to fix and standardize the terms of non-finite -ing form.15Chapter 4 Comparative analyses on non-finite -ing forms from the perspectiveof synta

26、ctic functions.184.1 Traditional gerund194.1.1 Syntactic functions of traditional gerund.194.1.2 Number concerning with traditional gerund.204.1.3 Three basic forms of traditional gerund214.1.4 Traditional gerund usually with determiners or modifiers224.1.5 Case of traditional gerund.234.1.6 Negativ

27、e form and expanded forms of traditional gerund254.2 -Ing participle.264.2.1 Syntactic functions of -ing participle274.2.2 Classification of -ing participle.304.2.3 Gradability of -ing participle324.2.4 Expanded forms of-ing participle. 32Chapter 5 Semantic analyses on non-finite -ing forms.345.1 Di

28、stinguish -ing form with predominant subject 345.1.1 Genitive required.345.1.2 Genitive excluded.355.1.3 Genitive optional.355.2 Distinguish -ing form without predominant subject365.3 Stative or dynamic375.4 Narrative or descriptive38Chapter 6 Effective ways to clarify the ambiguity of non-finite -i

29、ng forms.416.1 Fuzzy grammatical explanations. 416.2 Dangling -ing form. 426.2.1 Dangling gerund phrase426.2.2 Dangling -ing participle436.3 Noun resembling gerund.456.4 Adjective resembling -ing participle. 46Chapter 7 Conclusion.49Bibliography.51Chapter 1 IntroductionEnglish is generally acknowled

30、ged to be the worlds most important language. With the development of Chinas market economy, more and more Chinese are eager to learn the English language and want to know it well, but they often find that it is not easy to be grasped. Verbs in English as in some other languages often contain a domi

31、nating function in a sentence. Usually most English learners are confused about the varieties of verb forms. Some linguists consider that sentence patterns of English language belong to hypotaxis while those of Chinese language are parataxis. That is to say, in English language there is always a mai

32、n verb (except minor sentences) which plays a determining role in a sentence. Different collocations with main verbs will produce various sentence patterns. In terms of tense and mood, verbs in English sentences are often divided into finite and non-finite. As for the latter, there mainly exist two

33、trends of viewpoints worldwide. Some grammarians, represented by Otto Jespersen (1933;1940), A. J. Thomson(1980), A. V. Martinet (1980) etc., regard infinitive(i.e. bare infinitive and to infinitive), participles(-ing participle and -ed participle) and gerund as three non-finite verb forms; whereas,

34、 other experts disagree on this opinion. Such grammarians as Randolph Quirk (1974;1980;1985), Sidney Greenbaum (1974;1980;1985), Geoffrey Leech(1980;1985), Jan Svartvik (1980;1985), etc. think that there are only two non-finite verb forms: infinitive(ibid) and participle(ibid). They consider that, s

35、ince -ing participle and gerund appear in the same form, that is, verbs are followed by the suffix -ing, both of the same forms can be wholly called -ing participle.Moreover, some grammarians from English native-speaking countries have used some other grammatical terms in discussing the usages of no

36、n-finite -ing verb form. For instance, avoiding the mixture of -ing verb form, Ronald Wardhaugh (1995:25) mentioned “class boundaries” between verbal noun (gerund) and adjective participle; In Collins Cobuild English Grammar, chief compiler John Sinclair (1990) borrowed the term “phase” to explain t

37、he collocation of verbs in a sentence on the basis of the up-to-date influential “Collins Birmingham University International Language Database”; Rodney Huddleston (1988:63) used the term “catenative” to discuss the usages of non-finite complements, but in another book “the Cambridge Grammar of the

38、English Language”(2002:78-81), he used some other grammatical terms to describe the characters of non-finite -ing verb form e.g. “gerundial noun”, “participial adjective”, “gerund-participle form of verb”, etc. More detailed illustrations and analyses will be given in the next part of introduction.

39、Nowadays in China, the same views as mentioned above also exist in most English grammar books. On the one hand, some English grammarians, represented by professors Zhang Daozhen(1995) and Bo Bing(2004), both from Beijing Foreign Studies University who respectively compiled the influential grammar bo

40、oks “Practical English Grammar” and “A New English Grammar”, approve the classification given by Otto Jespersen et al for nearly half a century; on the other hand, some others, represented by professor Zhang Zhenbang from Shanghai International Studies University who compiled a grammar book “A New E

41、nglish Grammar Course”, have adopted the viewpoint of Randolph Quirk et al since the mid of 1980s. Relatively speaking, some grammatical viewpoints given by professor Zhang Zhenbang are much newer and more advantageous than those in the first two grammar books above. The highlights of this book refl

42、ect the new achievements in English grammar studies i.e. the hierarchy of English grammar from morpheme to sentence, even sentence group and text/discourse; one new part of speech determiner; semi-auxiliary; the last chapter “From Sentence To Discourse” etc. At present, the series of the grammar boo

43、ks (i.e. teachers reference books and students textbooks) is widely used by most English-major students and other adult English learners. According to professor Zhangs statistics, over one million copies of the textbooks have been sold in the past twenty years. In fact, this series of grammar books

44、has greatly been influencing its readers. But in the book the compilers paid less attention to non-finite -ing verb form. They only talked about some usages of -ing verb form and compared it with -ed participle and infinitive. In Lecture 21(Fourth Edition 2003:357), they only listed the usages of no

45、n-finite -ing verb form by two syntactic structures: 1) verb followed by -ing form as its object; 2) verb + object followed by a prepositional phrase (prep.+v-ing). In these two structures, they treated -ing verb form respectively as object and prepositional object. Apparently -ing verb form contain

46、s its nominal characters, but the compilers here used the term -ing participle. As we know, participles generally contain adjective quality. Thus such explanations naturally caused most Chinese students to be confused. Even teachers find it hard to deal with this lecture.Furthermore, in recent years

47、 some key journals and periodicals(i.e. the Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages 1994:02, Shanghai Science and Technology TranslationJ 1996:01;04, the Journal of Xiamen University 1996:01, Modern Foreign LanguagesJ 1998:04, College EnglishJ 2000:01 etc. ) have issued many articles titled b

48、y the terms of present/past participle, gerund or nominalized verbal noun etc., which seems to lead to chaos for most learners to comprehend the -ing verb form. Frankly, in the field of grammatical studies more standpoints are encouraged for the need of different orientations. But in English languag

49、e learning practice, one notional, practical and effective explanation on this question is preferred especially by most adult English learners in China though teachers could introduce various attitudes on one same language point.Considering the part mentioned above, the writer has found that there i

50、s a wide disagreement among scholars as to the classification of non-finite -ing verb form and its usages. In brief, two main trends exist. The terms and characteristics of -ing form are often mixed and misunderstood and its usages have also proved ambiguous. In English grammar teaching, it is neces

51、sary to clarify and define the proper terms of non-finite -ing verb form for Chinese students. Connecting many various viewpoints on non-finite -ing verb form, the writer in this paper will give a more reasonable complete explanation about its characters and functions from the perspective of linguis

52、tics.This paper proceeds in the following way:Chapter 1 is the introduction of this paper.Chapter 2 lays out the historical background of the study, where the origin of -ing verb form and the traditional and modern grammatical study of non-finite -ing form are briefly discussed. A section is also de

53、voted to the related study on the topic in China.Chapter 3 discusses the necessities to distinguish English non-finite -ing forms from the perspective of language cognitive environment, where the paper has explained the reasons why the grammatical point of non-finite -ing form is less important for

54、those ESL learners and English-native speakers than those EFL learners in Chinas mainland. The chapter also points out that various terms and explanations for non-finite -ing verb forms need to be standardized and certain relatively-fixed terms and logical explanations on -ing verb forms are popular

55、 and favorable.Chapter 4 focuses on detailed comparative analyses of syntactic functions of non-finite -ing verb forms on the basis of many current English sentences (spoken and written), representing their internal character and identity.Chapter 5 analyzes the semantic meaning of non-finite -ing fo

56、rms from the perspectives of its genitive and lexical characters. Chapter 6 illustrates some effective ways to clarify the ambiguity of English non-finite -ing verb form. In the end, on the basis of reasonable analyses, some constructive suggestions and conclusions will be put forward.In this thesis

57、, the writer managed to reach one favorable conclusion through a critical examination of previous discussion. He does not mean to reject all other previous analyses as wrong or worthless. They are valuable and useful analyses which are indispensable to any search for a unitary meaning. Of course his

58、 conclusion is not intended to be the final word on this topic. There is a lot to be desired. The paper hopes to be helpful to further research in this respect.Chapter 2 Literature reviewThe study of English non-finite -ing verb form has a long venerable tradition. It has been researched fairly exte

59、nsively by a number of scholars. Nearly all English grammars contain some portions devoted to the discussion of it. References even can be made to relevant parts of Greek and Latin grammars in ancient Greece and Rome (as we know, English grammar mainly originated from Latin). At present, the classif

60、ication and usage of English non-finite -ing verb form are still areas of great interest to language learners and scholars. As we are going to deal with a subject which has a long tradition of study, a brief survey of previous scholarship is necessary. 2.1 Origin of -ing verb formModern English -ing

61、 verb form comes from two sources: a verbal-noun (gerund) suffix -ung(e) or -ing and a present participle (verbal adjective) -ende. Both forms have gone through a considerable and continuing expansion in their domain during the course of the history of English. In Old English, the verbal-noun suffix

62、 -ung(e) was changed into -ing in the 1250s; the present participle -ende/inde was changed gradually from -inde, -inge to -ing in the 14th century. A verbal noun in Old English originally has the complete characteristics of a noun i.e. 1) an article could be put before a verbal noun; 2) transitive verb could not be followed by an object; 3) a verbal noun is needed in the structure “of +noun” which is used as postmodifier, e.g. The studying of mathematics is no easy job. When both source forms appeared in t