Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1994. [Vol. 2.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 22)

STUDIES - Csaba Czeglédi: On the Distribution of Infinitival and Gerundive Complements in English

(8) a. Sheila tried to bribe the jailor, b. Sheila tried bribing the jailor. They note about the examples in (8) that (8a) expresses an abortive attempt at an act of bribery with the infinitival clause suggesting potentiality, whereas (8b) implies the fruitless performance of an act (ibid., 1191). But they also observe that the meaning of the matrix verb may cancel out the performance interpretation of an -/wg-clause, as in (9) He escaped being branded as a traitor. where escaped clearly implies that the event expressed in the embedded sentence did not actually occur. While Bolinger (1968:123—5) expresses a similar view, arguing that infinitival complements express "something projected," hypothetical or potential as opposed to gerundive clauses, which express something reified, "something actually done," it is instructive that Wood (1956) appears to believe that the reverse is the case: the gerundive complement is the abstract form, which may suggest intention, and the infinitival complement expresses reification. The verb think, Wood says, means 'did it occur to you?' in sentences like (2a) and that it means 'have the intention' in ones like (2b) (1956:15). And this is his comment on the contrast between infinitival and gerundive complements on the verb like when it is used in sentences like (10) and (11) below: "When like and (do) not like lake the gerund they suggest enjoyment or repugnance respectively .. . But with the infinitive it suggests rather desire, preference or choice, and in the negative reluctance ..." (ibid.). Compare (10) a. I like to sing, b. I like singing. (11) I like to read in bed but I don't like having meals in bed. In Wierzbicka's (1988) theory, contrary to Wood (1956), Bolinger (1968) and Quirk et al. (1985), the elements of thinking, wanting and future 17