Dear Gunnar,

> I don't know about English gerund, but in e. g.
> Italian, there is a gerund with a funktion very close
> to present participle (andando/andante, "going"),
> while the Pali gerund has a completely different
> meaning (gatvaa, "having gone").

The way in which the grammatical term "gerund" is used in Sanskrit and Pali
is very confusing for English speakers who know their grammar. In the
description of English, a gerund is a verbal noun (usually ending in -ing)
and a participle is a verbal adjective. Thus, in "I like reading" the word
"reading" is a gerund, while in "I am reading" it is a participle.

best wishes,
Stephen Hodge