Equational Clauses in Bengali

Abstract

1. In many languages there are clause types characterized by the presence of a subject and complement without an element of predication such as a verb 'to be'. Clauses of this kind, which may be termed equational, display a number of similarities across languages. Frequently there is a special negative copula; in tenses other than the present, a verb 'to be' is sometimes required; word order may differ from that of nonequational clauses. Hence full descriptions of equational clauses in a variety of languages of differing structure and genetic relationship might be of value in determining synchronic and diachronic universals of syntax. The present study attempts to provide such a description for Standard Colloquial Bengali (hereafter SCB)1 and to describe the characteristics which distinguish equational from existential clauses, a similar type in which a copula does occur. The research was carried out with the assistance of two native speakers of SCB. The initial work was conducted with Mr. Satya Sarkar, a graduate of the University of Calcutta and presently a graduate student in ceramic engineering at the University of Washington. More intensive research was carried on with Mrs. Nilima Kar, who has received an M.A. from the University of Calcutta in Bengali language and literature.