In response to Gordon Carmichael's query:

I'm sure this has a very interesting answer in detailed ilnguistics, but
who wants to get that detailed? What follows is pretty much off the top of
my head.

I know the definite article can be used for generics (as in 'The horse
was domesticated during the Stone Age' = 'Horses were domesticated during
the stone age"), and this is what allows 'the making of a cake is fun'.
But I think it is a good rule of thumb to avoid using the definite article
if you want to talk about the activity as a generic. I would recommend
'Making a cake is fun' or 'Cake-making is fun' over 'the making of a cake
is fun'.

The def. article suggests definiteness, so a def. art. with a gerund
sounds best when a specific or delimited activity is being named. THat's
why 'the swimming in Lake Cahoogaloosa is fun' sounds better (if others
share my intuition) than 'the swimming in a pool is fun'; in the latter,
'a pool' is an indefinite generic. In cases where the gerund names a
specific event, it seems that the def. art. is actually required, as in
'the shooting of the child was a heinous crime'.

I would ask my ESL students to be satisfied with the rule of thumb as
outlined above, and consider it just that: a rule of thumb. If they want
more detail, refer them to Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech & Svartvik's
compendious grammar of English! And tell them to be on the lookout for
examples of the usage in question in written texts and bring them in for
discussion -- let _them_ be the linguists, and find the rule inductively.

I think we need to temper their desire for 'the absolute rule' somewhat --
so much of language IS conventional usage, and so many rules are subtle
like this one.

I wonder how many other ATEGers share my intutions on this particular
item.


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Johanna Rubba   Assistant Professor, Linguistics              ~
English Department, California Polytechnic State University   ~
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407                                     ~
Tel. (805)-756-2184     Fax: (805)-756-6374                   ~
E-mail: [log in to unmask]                           ~
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