Re: Gerund question
ON GRAMMAR SYNONYMS WITH A, THE, AND ZERO-ARTICLE
Introductory
There are only two kinds of philosophy possible: Either object-related (positivism, analytical philosophy, etc.) or subject-related (existentialism, hermeneutics, etc.) philosophy, as only either objective or subjective logic is possible. Hence, the both produce either objective statements (1+2=4) or subjective ones (beauty is attractive). How this can be used in grammar?
Rules of Thumb [my own explanations or comments set in brackets]
It was a summer of dreadful speculations and discoveries of which these were not the worst. [most general notion]
Crime became real, for example, for the first time not as
a [conceived]
possibility, but as
the [real]
possibility. (J. Baldwin).
Because the reality is unique like the sun. Non-reality may only be transcended.
A as designation / designator of conceiving, interpretation, evaluation or perception =
subject - related, or subjective statements / expressions
The Governor can declare anything to be anything. He can claim
a fish to be
a fur-bearer. The Governor can declare
a birch a balsam, a jack-pine a maple, a lake a river, a tree a rock (J. Aldridge)..
A New English Grammar by Henry Sweet, Oxford, 1891. [a (new) mental conception]
A Linguistic Study of the English Verb by R.P. Palmer, 1965. [a (new) mental conception, collection of ideas involving the verb as the only reality]
THE as designation / designator of the true, given reality =
object - related, or objective statements / expressions
It was
the end of October [reality]- a fine clear sunless day [evaluation or interpretaion](Wilson).
He looked
the picture of health [reality]
. (S. Maugham).
The son [reality], a boy of about sixteen [evaluation or interpretaion], is
the image of his father [reality] (F. Lawson).
Jonson, Ben (1756).
The English grammar: Made by Ben Jonson for the benefit of all strangers, out of his observation of the English language now spoken and in use.
The Works of Ben Jonson: Volume 7. London: D. Midwinter et al.[apparently the full reality of the English grammar as it appeared to be at that time; Henry Sweet was more tolerable]
No other approach to the theory of the English articles (a, the, zero-article) could be presented so compactly, fruitfully, and understandable for all students, learners, and users of English including the natives.
This approach is in fact a philosophic one, thus giving a new chance to deeply understand the intrinsic, immanent logic of English, which remains always obscure in grammar books during hundreds of years.
Tags: philosophy of grammar, grammar, synonyms, grammar synonyms, semantics, contextual meaning, lexicology
© cuneiform 2012. Feel free to use this content within www.usingenglish.com while indicating this source.