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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: [Wish] Title, Address and Date format
From:       "Jacob R Rideout" <kde () jacobrideout ! net>
Date:       2007-01-30 7:11:39
Message-ID: d37f1a780701292311u4f0a46carf2f41e1f1625e8e3 () mail ! gmail ! com
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> Hmmm ... true ... but I can't resist a stab at that ... :-)
> In original English "message" is a noun, not a verb,
> though my Oxford dictionary does allow it as a verb,
> perhaps as a concession to our American cousins.
>
> IM should perhaps be "instant messages" or "instant
> exchange of messages".

In both British and American variants of English if a given lexeme has
verb form, it usually also  has a gerund, which is often equivalent to
some progressive (often called participle) form of the verb (also
usually the same.) There are also many cases where the infinitive also
has noun that describe the action of "doing" the verb, unlike the the
gerurnd which describes the act itself. Gerund have special rules in
English and can be clefted unlike the verbal forms they often act as
substitutes for.

For example:
verb: to run (infinitive)
noun: run = the act of running
verb: running (past progressive) (i.e. she was running)  = an
inflected form of the verb
gerund: running (noun) =   the action of the verb to run

Of course there the are many lexemes in English where the past
progressive can also be used as and adjective further confusing the
matter.

So, "instant messaging" can be parsed several ways. For the several
possible forms messaging could refer to there also exists a
complementary form for instant, but I can take a stab at the intended
meaning.

* Ian enjoys instant messaging his friends. ("messaging" is a gerund)
* Ian is instant messaging his friends. ("messaging" is a participle verb)

Note that in the first sentence, the clause, "instant messaging his
friends" is actually acting as a single noun.

Jacob
 
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