Re: Dancing in the dark
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Hi Maureen,

I would agree with Bruce that in (1) and (3) the -ing phrases (called clauses by most linguists) are  manner adverbials.  In other words, they are participles (or, in my lingo, participial phrases) functioning adverbially.

In traditional grammar, as you know, the word participle--in addition to its use as the name of the -ing or -en form (present participle, past participle)--is used to designate those forms used adjectivally.  But clearly, those forms can also function adverbially.  Here are some other examples:

        I made my fortune selling real estate.
        I drank my beer standing at the bar.
        The kids came running out of the house.

I suspect that in order to limit the term participle to its adjectival function, the traditional grammarian would claim that these -ings are actually "gerunds"--the objects of understood prepositions.  As objects, then, they would be considered verbs functioning as nouns.  (That, to me, is one of many examples of insisting on Latin's vocabulary, on making do, whether or not it applies accurately to English.)

The term "participle" is one of those problem terms that Ed Vavra talks about.  And he's right.  I would like to see us all agree that the word "participle" is the name of a form--perhaps two forms:  present participle and past participle (the latter of which, by the way, I tell my students to think of as "passive" rather than "past").  Then when we discuss the word's function, we use terms like "adverbial" or "adjectival" or "nominal."

Interestingly, that's what we do with the other "verbal"--the infinitive.  We have no separate term (akin to gerund) for the infinitive's functions.  We simply say, the infinitive is "taking the place of " a noun or adjective  or adverb--thus, nominal or adjectival or adverbial.   So I'm proposing, if and when we come up with agreed-upon terminology,  that we treat  "participle" in the same way.   In other words, if we want to keep the traditional category "verbal," it would have only two members, participle & infinitive.  But, in fact, we probably don't want  to keep it.  We simply recognize that the verb forms, participle and infinitive, have three functions when they are not main verbs.  (Just as we recognize the fact that nouns, too, can function as adjectivals and adverbials.)

Back to Maureen's second example:
       
        I have trouble dancing in the dark.

Quirk et al. have some similar examples:

Here's what they say:  "The -ing clause [again, I prefer "phrase" for non-finite verbs rather than "clause"]
functions as appositive postmodification in examples like
       
        I'm looking for a job driving cars.
        We can offer you a career counselling delinquents.
        There is plenty of work shoveling snow."

To call the -ing constructions appositives is to say that driving cars is the job, counselling is the career, and shoveling snow is the work--just as Maureen's dancing is the trouble.

To call "dancing in the dark" a complement, as Bruce does, is perhaps even more accurate because, clearly, the "trouble" is not complete without it.  And while restrictive appositives are perhaps necesaary for clarity of meaning, they are usually not necessary for grammaticality, as in this case.  I define a complement as a requirement for grammaticality (a completer), while an appositive is optional.

Martha








Maureen,
 
My vote is for explanation B, but I am uncomfortable talking about "understood" prepositions.  Certainly we interpret the gerund in these situations as we would prepositional phrases, but we don't need to have the prepostions there to get that understanding.  Nouns, which gerunds are, often serve in the function of adverbs, like "home" as a locative and "Wednesday" as a temporal adverbial.  True, sometimes it helps to point out that they are like prepostional phrases: "at home" and "on Wednesday."  The fact that the gerund has an understood subject ("I") has to do with its verbal derivation.
 
One of the strengths of a transformational approach in descriptive linguistics is that the gerund's relationship to the subject can be explicated.  The gerund is describing a state in (1), an activity in (2) and (3).
 
I was smiling::I spent the morning in this state.
I might dance in the dark::I have trouble with this.
I built a shed::I spent the weekend in this activity.
 
In (1) and (3) the constructions are manner adverbial, whereas in (2) the construction is a complement to the phrasal verb (idiom) "to have trouble with."  That the gerund is likely a complement can be seen in the construction: "The trouble with dancing in the dark is that I can't see my feet."
 
I hope this helps.
 
Bruce

>>> "Maureen Kunz" <[log in to unmask]> 07/25/06 5:00 PM >>>
To ATEG folks-
      I have joined this listserve at the suggestion of NCTE in order to seek advice about the following grammar issue.  As a brash newcomer, I will dive right in.  I beg the indulgence of veterans for any lapses of local culture or etiquette.
 
Here are 3 model sentences:
#1.  I spent the morning smiling.
#2.  I have trouble dancing in the dark.
#3.  I spent the weekend building a shed.
 
      What are those "ing" words?  They're not gerunds used as direct objects; "morning," "trouble," and "weekend" seem to be the direct objects.
-Possible explanation  A:  Participles that are oddly placed?  (smiling I, dancing I, building I)
-Possible explanation B:  Are they gerunds in understood prepositional phrases that serve as adverbs to modify the verb?             
            I spent the morning [in] smiling
            I have trouble [with] dancing in the dark.
            I spent the weekend [in] building a shed.   
 
-Possible explanation C:  Some sort of obscure direct object?  (Doesn't really fit the definition or word order - IO before DO).
-Possible explanation D;   A Latinate structure.  For example, ablative absolute in Latin becomes a nominative absolute in English.  Although the Latin specifications for an ablative absolute seem to fit, the English versions provided on the web don't fit the model.
 
    With sincere thanks for any light you can shine on this mystery,
    Maureen
 
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