A Systemic Functional Approach to Non-finite -ing Component in Nominal Group

Non-finite verbs have not received adequate attention in Halliday's works.This is particularly true to the study of non-finite-ing component which functions as a modifier in the nominal group.According to studies in systemic functional grammar, non-finite-ing component can be put into two categories: epithet and classifier, which can be expanded into a rank-shifted clause, taking the form of “thing + which does/is doing” (e.g., “a sleeping dog” can be expanded into “a dog which is sleeping”) .However, such constructions as “a sleeping bag” (which can be expanded into “a bag which is used for sleeping” rather than “a bag which is sleeping” have not been explained.This paper is aimed to make a functional study of such non-finite components.