Terms

[William Ryan]

The Wikipedia entry for 'gerund' neatly displays the variety of meanings 
the word can have when applied to various languages, which perhaps 
explains why (according to Vasmer) it gives rise to the Russian word 
'erunda' 'nonsense', and its elaboration 'erundistika'.

Will Ryan



John Dunn wrote:
>  A. Aleksandrov's Complete Russian-English Dictionary (SPb., 1885) translates 'дѣепричастіе'* as 'verbal adverb, gerund', and in a career that doesn't go back quite as far as Aleksandrov I can't remember seeing 'gerund' used in the context of Russian grammar to refer to anything other than the verbal adverb.  But, as Jacee Cho suggests, 'gerund' can mean different things to different people, and 'verbal adverb' does have the advantage of transparency.
>
> John Dunn.
>
>   

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