Re: Gerunds and Entities Saul Epstein Wed, 12 Nov 1997 14:14:46 -0600 From: Whittaker, Pat Date: Wednesday, November 12, 1997 1:41 PM >Saul writes: >SNIP >>So we'll just have to make something up, like... /ngox/. So >>"linguistics department could be >> >> pralakhute ngox >> >>How does that strike you? > >What's a "gerund"?? Sorry. A gerund is a noun derived from a verb, a way to refer to an action as a thing. English has its "-ing" suffix, and adapted "-ion" from Latin for the same purpose -- though Latin's gerunds were different... Gerunds can be marked by, for instance, suffixes, or unmarked. Different words derived from "act" make a good example. "Act" is a verb from which English derives three nouns with slightly different meanings. "Acting" is what an actor does, "action" is the process or result of an act, and "act" is part of a play or a piece of legislation -- or misleading behavior, as in "It's all just an act: he's really terrified." The third word is an unmarked gerund. >I think the name for the Vulcan Academy >Linguistics Department as pralakhute ngox gets my vote. Two for two.