Title Background

The Gerund in Middle English.

The Gerund in Middle English.

Based on MED citations of -ing nouns, this study casts doubt on the gerund as an established ME construction. Notes the extreme scarcity of gerunds functioning as subjects: besides two passages from Kyng Alisaunder and two uses in medical writings, finds one example each by Langland and Pecock, for both of whom the -ing subject is part of an elaborate compound subject.