Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T01:26:29.917Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Gerund and the Infinitive with the Verbs intend, mean, propose and their Close Synonyms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Patrick J. Duffley  and
Jean-François Joubert
Patrick J. Duffley
Affiliation:
Université Laval
Jean-François Joubert
Affiliation:
Université Laval
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article investigates gerundive and infinitival constructions with the verbs intend, mean, propose and their close synonyms with respect to the abstract categories of “tense” and “control”. Concerning “tense”, the gerundive construction with these verbs constitutes counterevidence to the common claim that the -ing form denotes simultaneity or temporal overlap: the explanation proposed shows that the latter does not correspond to any of the usual aspectual categories found in the linguistic literature. With respect to “control”, an explanation is offered for the tighter constraints on infinitival constructions as compared to the latitude between subject control and non-subject control readings found with the -ing form. These phenomena are explained in terms of the language-specific parameters of the basic meanings of the forms making up the constructions and the syntactic relations linking these meanings together.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article traite du comportement des constructions gérondives et infinitives avec les verbes intend, mean, propose et leurs synonymes les plus proches vis-à-vis les catégories abstraites de «temps» et de «contrôle». En ce qui a trait à la catégorie du «temps», la construction gérondive avec ces verbes résiste à l’analyse en termes de simultanéité ou d’imperfectivité. L’explication proposée des effets temporels observés avec la forme en -ing se fonde sur une réévaluation de la valeur sémantique de cette forme, qui n’est l’expression d’aucune des catégories aspectuelles communément appliquées aux formes verbales de l’anglais. En ce qui a trait au «contrôle», une explication est proposée pour les contraintes plus étroites sur les interprétations des constructions infinitives en regard des interprétations de contrôle variables avec le complément en -ing. Cette explication se fonde sur les paramètres propres à la langue anglaise que sont les signifiés du -ing et de l’infinitif, le signifié de to et la valeur sémantique de la fonction syntaxique du complément par rapport au verbe de la principale.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , September 1999 , pp. 251 - 266
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Bresnan, Joan. 1982. Control and complementation. Linguistic Inquiry 13:343–434.Google Scholar
Chierchia, Gennaro. 1989. Structured meanings, thematic roles and control. In Properties, types and meaning II, ed. Chierchia, Gennaro, Partee, Barbara, and Turner, Raymond, 131–166. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Dixon, R.M.W. 1984. The semantic basis of syntactic properties. Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistic Society 10:583–593.Google Scholar
Dixon, R.M.W. 1991. A new approach to English grammar: On semantic principles. New York: Clarendon.Google Scholar
Duffley, Patrick J. 1992. The English infinitive. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Duffley, Patrick J. 1995. Defining the potential meaning of the -ing form in English. Langues et linguistique 21:1–11.Google Scholar
Givón, Talmy. 1990. Syntax: A functional-typological introduction. Vol. II. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Hirtle, Walter H. 1967. The simple and progressive forms: An analytical approach. Quebec: Presses de l’Université Laval.Google Scholar
Jespersen, Otto. 1927. A modern English grammar. Part III. London: George Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Kiparsky, Paul, and Kiparsky, Carol. 1971. Fact. In Semantics: An interdisciplinary reader in philosophy, linguistics and psychology, ed. Steinberg, Danny D. and Jacobvits, Leon A., 345–369. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Langacker, Ronald W. 1991. Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. II. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Mair, Christian. 1990. Infinitival complement clauses in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Matthews, Peter H. 1981. Syntax. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pullum, Geoffrey K. 1982. Syncategorematicity and English infinitival to . Glossa 16: 181–215.Google Scholar
Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sidney, Leech, Geoffrey, and Svartvik, Jan. 1985. A comprehensive grammar of the English language. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Rudanko, Juhani. 1996. Prepositions and complement clauses: A syntactic and semantic study of verbs governing prepositions and complement clauses in present-day English. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Sag, Ivan A., and Pollard, Carl. 1991. An integrated theory of complement control. Language 67:63–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Cariota S. 1991. The parameter of aspect. Dordrecht: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stowell, Tim. 1982. The tense of infinitives. Linguistic Inquiry 13:561–570.Google Scholar
Visser, Fredericus Th. 1969. An historical syntax of the English language. Part III, 1. Leiden: E.J. Brill.Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, Anna. 1988. The semantics of grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Works Cited

Astor, John Jacob. 1894. A journey in other worlds. The Online Library of Electronic Texts, etext@virgi.nia. edu.Google Scholar
Brontë, Emily. 1847 [1965]. Wuthering heights. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
BUC: Francis, W. Nelson and Kučera, Henry, ed. 1964. Brown University corpus of American English. Department of Linguistics, Brown University.Google Scholar
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. 1992. The lost continent. The Online Library of Electronic Texts. etext@virginia.edu.Google Scholar
Hale, Edward Everett. 1970. The brick moon, and other stories. The Online Library of Electronic Texts. etext@virginia.edu.Google Scholar
Horn, Laurence. 1989. A natural history of negation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
James, Henry. 1995 [1881]. Portrait of a lady. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
LOB: Johansson, Stig, Leech, Geoffrey N., and Goodluck, Helen, ed. 1978. Lancaster-Oslo/Bergen Corpus of British English. Oslo: Department of English, University of Oslo.Google Scholar
Michener, James A. 1983. Poland. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Thackeray, William M. 1847 [1983]. Vanity fair. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Woolf, Virginia. 1915. The voyage out. The Wiretap Electronic Text Archive, wiretap@spies. com.Google Scholar