This message was originally submitted by [log in to unmask] to the ATEG in
response to a posting by  Ed Vavra  ([log in to unmask]  to the
 
>Bob Yates wrote:
>Let me give an example of why the form/function
>distinction is important.
>
>One defines a verb as a word that shows action.  And,
>the "main verb" of a sentence is what the "subject" is
>doing or has done?
>
>        So what is the "main verb" of the following
>sentences?
>
>        Bob is playing on the computer.
>        Bob enjoys playing on the computer.
>        Bob is happy playing on the computer.
>
>Playing is the most "action" word in all three, right?
>
>The only way to figure out what is the "main verb" is to
>talk about form and function.
>
>
>----------------------
>I guess I'm slow, but I don't understand the
>explanation. In all three sentences, the form of
>"playing" is identical; only the function differs. Why
>then, must one discuss the form?
 
I apologize for jumping into the middle of this discussion.  We've recently
changed from MSMail to Eudora.  And in the changeover, I've missed some
mail.  I'll stay our to the form/function argument (since it would take a
long explanation).  But I will say that the difference between form and
function is an important one--central to grammatical analysis.  Read
Kenneth Pike and the tagmemic linguists on this issue.
 
I don't understand the definition of main verbs in the three senteces cited
by Bob Yates.  In the first sentence IS PLAYING is the main verb
constituent.  PLAYING, the present participial form is is the head of the
main verb constituent.  IS marks the present progressive.  In the second
sentence, PLAYING is a gerund.  ENJOYS is the only finite verb form in the
sentence.  The gerund phrase PLAYING ON THE COMPUTER functions as the
object of the verb ENJOYS.   In the third setence, IS is the main verb of
the sentence.  The gerund phrase PLAYING ON THE COMPUTER functions as the
complement to the predicate noun HAPPY.
 
Again, I apologize if all this wasn't at issue.  I was confuses about where
the argument was going.
 
Max Morenberg
Miami University
Oxford, OH 45056
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