Nonsense!



On Sun, 12 Mar 2006, Bruce D. Despain wrote...

>Nancy,
>
>The progressive paraphrase just doesn't mean the same thing as the 
simple
>verb, whether the verb is a linking one or not.  And it doesn't mean 
the
>same thing as the sentence in question, which is more relevant.  The
>garden's trait of smelling lovely today is a temporary condition.  
Not so
>with the poor dog (or other animal) John's student was describing.  
He was
>stuck with that white streak.  I think that the progressive may 
indeed be
>used with linking verbs, but that the meaning is different than when 
it is
>used with active verbs.  My impression is that Eduard's reasoning 
shows
>signs of the kind of stretching of interpretation that many a non-
native
>English speaking student of mine often manifests.
>
>I am all for paraphrase in the analysis as Eduard has tried so 
valiantly to
>do.  However, it is very important that the paraphraser be careful 
not to
>change the interpretation of the pieces, or at least to be aware of 
the
>differences that occur as they are assembled together.  Otherwise the
>analysis make the whole much greater than the pieces that the 
sentence is
>divided into and the analysis is useless.
>
>Bruce
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Nancy Tuten" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2006 12:26 PM
>Subject: Re: What Is This?
>
>
>> Earlier today, when I first responded to John's post, I suggested 
that the
>> verb was "is running," but Bruce said that reordering the sentence 
would
>> prove me wrong.
>>
>> Bruce, what is wrong with the way Eduard has reordered the 
sentence below
>> (and Linda in another post)?
>>
>> Obviously, "running" isn't active in the sense in which it is used 
in
>John's
>> student's sentence. Is it, instead, a linking verb, much the way
>"smelling"
>> would be in the sentence "My garden is smelling lovely today"?
>>
>> Of course, we would be more likely to write "My garden smells 
lovely
>today"
>> or "A patch of white hair runs from the back of his skull . . . " 
But if
>we
>> wrote "is smelling" or "is running," are we dealing with a 
different
>> construction completely?
>>
>> Nancy
>>
>> Nancy L. Tuten, PhD
>> Professor of English
>> Director of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Program
>> Columbia College
>> Columbia, South Carolina
>> [log in to unmask]
>> 803-786-3706
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Eduard C. Hanganu
>> Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2006 10:33 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: What Is This?
>>
>> Hi, John:
>>
>> I believe that that we might be able to make sense of this 
syntactic
>> structure, which seems to be a complex sentence, if we reordered 
the
>> words:
>>
>> "A patch of white hair that opens up into his lips is running from
>> the back of his scull down to his front."
>>
>> It appears now clear that the main sentence is:
>>
>> "A patch of white hair is running from the back of his scull down 
to
>> his front."
>>
>> The subject is *a patch of white hair*, and the predicate *is 
running
>> from the back of his scull down to his front.*
>>
>> The verb of the main clause, *is running,* is in the Progressive
>> Present Tense.
>>
>> There are two verb complements in the sentence, both prepositional
>> phrases. The first prepositional phrase, *from the back of his
>> scull,* is an adverbial of place. The second, *down to his 
front*,is
>> also an adverbial of place.
>>
>> The main clause, "A patch of white hair is running from the back of
>> his scull down to his front," is interrupted in the middle by a
>> restrictive relative clause, *that opens up into his lips.*
>>
>> Let me summarize, now:
>>
>> A patch of white hair [subject] that opens up into his lips
>> [restrictive relative clause ]is running [Verb in the Present
>> Progressive Tense] from the back of his scull [Prepositional 
Phrase -
>> Adverbial of Place] down to his front [ Prepositional Phrase -
>> Adverbial of Place].
>>
>> The comma seems to separate the two parts of the compound verb, 
that
>> is, it separates *is* from *running* and should probably be left 
out,
>> unless you consider "Running from the back of his skull down to the
>> front" an introductory verbal phrase in the initial syntactic
>> structure. In such a case, I would leave it there.
>>
>>
>> Eduard
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, 12 Mar 2006, John Crow wrote...
>>
>> >A student wrote the following sentence in an essay:
>> >
>> >Running from the back of his skull down to the front, is a patch 
of
>> white
>> >hair that opens up into his lips.
>> >The comma doesn't belong there, but I'm not sure why.  Is
>> the "Running"
>> >phrase a gerund?  If so, then I understand why the comma is wrong:
>> it
>> >separates the subject from the verb  However, the phrase doesn't
>> behave like
>> >a gerund.  Compare:
>> >
>> >Running around the lake is a part of my daily routine. --> It is a
>> part of
>> >my daily routine.  --> A part of my daily routine is running 
around
>> the
>> >lake.
>> >
>> >In this sentence, the "Running" phrase behaves like a true noun
>> phrase in a
>> >linking verb sentence.  My student's "Running" phrase doesn't 
behave
>> like an
>> >NP.  It feels participial, modifying "patch".  If so, then the 
comma
>> would
>> >be correct.  But it's not.
>> >
>> >Any ideas out there?
>> >
>> >John
>> >
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