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Non-predicative BE
The examples with the copula that we have given seem to indicate that be
is always followed by a predicative phrase of some sort. This is not the case,
however, as seen in sentences such as ((95))-((100)). The noun phrases in
these sentences are not predicative. They do not take raising verbs, and they
do not occur in embedded small clause constructions.
(94)0(94
- (95)
- my teacher is Mrs. Wayman .
(95)0(95
- (96)
- Doug is the man with the glasses .
(96)0(96
- (97)
- My teacher seems Mrs. Wayman .
(97)0(97
- (98)
- Doug appears the man with the glasses .
(98)0(98
- (99)
- I consider [my teacher Mrs. Wayman] .
(99)0(99
- (100)
- I prefer [Doug the man with the glasses] .
In addition, the subject and complement can exchange positions in these type of
examples but not in sentences with predicative be. Sentence ((101))
has the same interpretation as sentence ((96)) and differs only in the
positions of the subject and complement NP's. Similar sentences, with a
predicative be, are shown in ((102)) and ((103)). In this case,
the sentence with the exchanged NP's ((103)) is ungrammatical.
(100)0(100
- (101)
- The man with the glasses is Doug .
(101)0(101
- (102)
- Doug is a programmer .
(102)0(102
- (103)
- A programmer is Doug .
The non-predicative be in ((95)) and ((96)), also called
EQUATIVE BE, patterns differently, both syntactically and
semantically, from the predicative usage of be. Since these sentences
are clearly not predicative, it is not desirable to have a tree structure that
is anchored by the NP, AP, or PP, as we have in the predicative sentences. In
addition to the conceptual problem, we would also need a mechanism to block
raising verbs from adjoining into these sentences (while allowing them for true
predicative phrases), and prevent these types of sentence from being embedded
(again, while allowing them for true predicative phrases).
Figure:
Equative BE trees: nx0BEnx1 (a) and Invnx0BEnx1 (b)
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(a) |
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(b) |
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Although non-predicative be is not a raising verb, it does exhibit the
auxiliary verb behavior set out in section 9.1.1. It inverts,
contracts, and so forth, as seen in sentences ((104)) and ((105)), and
therefore can not be associated with any existing tree family for main verbs.
It requires a separate tree family that includes the tree for inversion.
Figures 9.7(a) and 9.7(b) show the declarative and
inverted trees, respectively, for equative be.
(103)0(103
- (104)
- is my teacher Mrs. Wayman ?
(104)0(104
- (105)
- Doug isn't the man with the glasses .
Next: Ditransitive constructions and dative
Up: The English Copula, Raising
Previous: XTAG analysis
XTAG Project
1998-09-14