Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 3. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 29)
Csaba Ceglédi: On the Constituent Structure of Infinitives and Gerunds in English
On the Constituent Structure of Infinitives and Gerunds in English Csaba Czeglédi In this paper, I discuss the constituent structure and syntactic category of English infinitives and gerunds —two closely related issues in the syntax of nonfinite complements in English that have emerged since the publication of Rosenbaum 1967, the first major work on nonfinite complementation in a generative framework. For the purposes of the present discussion, I will essentially assume the principles and categories of Government and Binding Theory (as developed in Chomsky 1981, 1982, 1986), and X-bar Theory (cf. Chomsky 1970 and Jackendoff 1977), with minor modifications. After reviewing the major competing hypotheses, and weighing the arguments, on the syntax of English infinitival and gerundive complements, I will conclude that both infinitives and gerunds are essentially clausal in constituent structure, with the proviso that Poss-/«g gerunds are clauses embedded in noun phrases. 1 Introduction The following morpho-syntactic types of nonfinite complements (and adjuncts) occur in English: 1. /o-infmitives, 2. naked infinitives, 3. gerunds (and -ing participles), and 4. -ed participles. The term nonfinite will be used, following accepted practice, to refer to the form of a sentence or clause which is not marked for the categories of mood, tense, number, and person, though it will be marked for voice and aspect. Attention will be focused on /^-infinitival and gerundive complements. I will say nothing about type 4 complements (though they are frequently inadequately treated in standard reference grammars, such as, e.g., Quirk et al. 1985), and very little about naked infinitives or -ing participles. Two major classes of competing hypotheses have been proposed on the syntactic category and constituent structure of nonfinite constructions in English in generative grammar and frameworks sympathetic to Eger Journal of English Studies, Volume III, 2002 75-108
