Copula Verb Research Articles

Habituality Markers in Jordanian Arabic

Objectives: This study investigates the grammatical encoding of habituality within Jordanian Arabic. This linguistic phenomenon is expressed through specific markers for different tenses in the dialect. Methods: Our research employs a qualitative, theory-driven methodology rooted in truth-conditional semantics instead of a corpus-based approach. We base our findings on constructed utterances that are placed within specific contexts. Results: In the present tense, habituality is expressed using the copular verb bi-ku:n 'Pres-be'. The copula occurs within nominal sentences, serving as a marker that indicates the habitual nature of the action. The obligatory presence of the copula exclusively enforces a habitual interpretation. Conversely, the obligatory absence of the copula allows for two interpretations: episodic and habitual. Event plurality in the past tense, however, is constructed using the past auxiliary ka:n 'used to'. These constructions are known as periphrastic forms or retrospective habituals (Boneh and Doron, 2008). Conclusions: The periphrastic forms in Jordanian Arabic behave similarly to the perfective aspect, yet they are interpreted imperfectively. These periphrastic habituals are formed using both stage-level and individual-level predicates. However, the periphrastic forms incorporating stage-level predicates without an adverbial adjunct are ambiguous between a habitual and a non-habitual reading. The context serves to differentiate between the two readings.

The discourse functions of simple copulas in Dzongkha

Abstract The marking on copular verbs in Tibetic languages is regarded as an exemplar of egophoricity, although the extent to which it has been grammaticalized varies between languages. Dzongkha, a southern Tibetic language, is somewhat atypical of the egophoric pattern in the sense that the basic opposition in copulas exhibits a mirative pattern, wherein the non-mirative (egophoric) copula occurs with all grammatical persons in declaratives and interrogatives, and the mirative (non-egophoric) occurs with the 3rd person and rarely with 1st and 2nd persons. The conversational data studied for this paper also show that the speaker need not take knowledge stances that bifurcate the world between objectively ‘old’ and ‘new’ knowledge and the attendant associations of knowledge with a particular grammatical person. Rather, the speaker’s representation of events is subjective, and dependent, in part, on the knowledge stances between speaker and respondent. What is in view in conversational interaction are the social goals of the conversation — assertions, face-saving strategies, and arriving at mutually shared knowledge — and the Dzongkha copulas are a manipulable linguistic resource in achieving these.

PEMBENTUKAN KELAS KATA VERBA PADA TEKS EKSPOSISI DALAM BUKU BUDI WALUYO: BAHASA DAN SASTRA INDONESIA KELAS VIII SMP DAN MTS

This study aims to determine the formation of verbs in the exposition text in the book Budi Waluyo Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia Kelas VIII SMP dan MTS. This research was conducted with qualitative descriptive research. The data used in this study are verbs and the source of the data is in the book Budi Waluyo: Indonesian Language and Literature Class VIII SMP and MTS. The technique used in collecting data in this research is the analysis technique on the exposition text which contains a verb. The results of data analysis are presented using ordinary words. The forms found from the data source include the original verb and the derived verb. Derived verbs formed by affixation and verbs formed by reduplication. Affixes forming verbs include, meN-, meN-kan, meN-i, di-, ter- and ber-an. In addition, there are verbs related to nouns, namely active and passive verbs and verbs related to arguments, namely copulative verbs and equative verbs.

Recent Contact-Induced Morphosyntactic Changes in the Lower Kolyma Region

Abstract The paper deals with recent contact-induced changes in the grammar of two languages of the Lower Kolyma tundra, Tundra Yukaghir (TY) and Lower Kolyma Even (LKE). The morphosyntax of these languages has undergone a rather strong influence from Sakha in the course of the 20th century. The investigation focusses on the structural copying of Sakha patterns into TY and LKE, which resulted in the emergence of several new categories, in particular, the future imperative, the necessitive based on the future participle with or without proprietive marking, evaluative morphology, and contrastive markers deriving from the converbs of the copula verb. In addition, the TY system of differential object marking has changed under the influence of Sakha. These phenomena are interpreted against their historical and sociolinguistic settings, specifically, the types of multilingual situations in the region. The ramifications of the findings for the theory of language contact are also discussed.

Epistemic ʔilla and Deontic ʔilla in Jordanian Arabic Converge or Diverge in their Semantics and Syntax?

The goal of this study is to investigate the semantics and the syntax of the epistemic modal ʔilla in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and find-out if epistemic ʔilla and deontic ʔilla are comparable in their semantics and syntax. As for its semantics, it draws an inference based on previous knowledge and experience to expresses certainty. The proposal was that the epistemic and the deontic modal force that ʔilla has come as an extension of the exclusive focus property this modal particle has. With regard to its distribution, epistemic ʔilla appears in two patterns. A mono-clausal structure is assumed for ʔilla In Pattern 1. In Pattern 2, ʔilla comes before the copular verb kuun ‘be’ to be necessarily followed with any of the components of a declarative clause. In this pattern, the modal and the copular verb are assumed to be in a TP, and the complement of the copular verb is in a lower TP. The subject is able to raise to the higher TP. The epistemic modal may not occur in non-declarative clauses, as they cannot be judged true or false.

Transfer of collostructions: the case of causative constructions

Abstract In an attempt to identify possible cases of collostructional transfer in the use of the causative construction [X make Y Vinf] by French-speaking learners of English, two types of analyses are combined in this study. First, a contrastive collostructional analysis compares the verbs occurring in the [Vinf] slot of the English construction and its French equivalent, [X faire Vinf Y]. Second, a contrastive interlanguage collostructional analysis compares the verbs used in the [Vinf] slot of [X make Y Vinf] by native speakers of English, French-speaking learners of English and learners of English from other mother tongue backgrounds. The aim is to identify verbs that are more distinctive of [X faire Vinf Y] than of [X make Y Vinf] and that are also more likely to be used by French-speaking learners of English than by other populations, as these verbs could be potential cases of collostructional preferences transferred by learners from French to English. The results suggest that learners might transfer verbs expressing a change of state or location and some individual verbs like discover from the French to the English causative construction. Their dispreference for copular verbs (other than be) could also be the result of transfer effects.

Copulas, possession, and the temporary-permanent distinction in Mashi: Evidence for decompositional HAVE

It is cross-linguistically common to find a distinction between “temporary” vs. “permanent” states in copular verbs, e.g., Spanish estar and ser (see Deo et al. 2017). In Mashi [shr] (Bantu, JD53; Maho 2009), a similar temporary-permanent distinction holds not only of the two copular be-verbs in the language, -li (temporary state) and -ba (permanent state), but also of the two possessive have-verbs, -dwiire and -jira; -dwiire indicates temporary possession, while -jira instead indicates permanent possession. This parallelism provides a novel argument in favor of a decompositional approach to possessive verbs (Freeze 1992, Kayne 1993, Harley 1998). The analysis is further supported through patterns of allomorphy where HAVE is realized in its decomposed form, BE + comitative, in Mashi. I analyze the patterns using a Spanning Insertion analysis (Williams 2003, Svenonius 2012, 2016, Merchant 2015).

Morpho-syntactic structure of code-switched sentences produced by Albanian bilingual speakers

This paper aims to analyze the structure of code-switched sentences uttered by Albanian bilingual students. It examines the predictions made by two theoretical viewpoints, namely Myers-Scotton’s Matrix Language Frame (MLF) and MacSwan’s approach within the Minimalist Program (MP). The students were observed in informal environments within Prishtina international school settings, such as during recess time, on the playground, etc. Tape recordings of the conversations were used to record this naturalistic data, which was then transcribed. In particular, examples from the Albanian/English pair were analyzed, and the MLF and MP predictions regarding combinatorial possibilities were tested. The findings show that our data can only partially be accounted for by the MLF and MP approaches. Switching is mainly unidirectional, with insertions from English into an Albanian syntactic frame. Determiners, such as demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, adverbs of quantity, as well as copular verbs, auxiliary verbs, and clitics, come from the Matrix Language (ML), complying with the MLF model. However, violations of the MLF model are encountered as well, such as the non-occurrence of stem/affix switching, the occurrence of bare forms, and Embedded Language (EL) islands not always constituting the maximal projection of the phrase, which are further described and predicted in MP model. The paper provides evidence that neither MLF nor MP are able to adequately account for the possible combinations in the mixed clause. According to what the literature to date indicates, integrating the approaches rather than using each one individually results in a better understanding of the grammar of code-switching.

L’Adjectif qualificatif : étude Contrastive en Français et en Arabe

The Adjective: Contrastive Study in French and in Arabic
 The lexical morpheme, variable in gender and number through linguistic agreement (AGR) or declension, holds a crucial position in the two inflected languages under examination: Arabic, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic family, and French, a Romance language with synthetic characteristics. This study draws inspiration from the works of eminent linguists, including Blachère and Gaudefroy-Demombynes (1975), Béchade (1994), Al-Hakkak (1996), and others. It also incorporates insights from contrastive studies, a linguistic branch that emerged in the 1950s to enhance the teaching and learning of foreign languages by addressing language interference through the exploration of inter-linguistic structural differences. This study, designed to assist learners and translators in comprehending the affinities and deviations between French and Arabic, delves into the use of adjectives in context. It particularly focuses on the qualifying adjective as a discourse component falling within the class of apparent nouns, in contrast to implicit nouns. This lemma or lexical unit serves to describe, characterize, specify, and indicate certain properties of animate or inanimate beings. It represents the grammatical class bestowing identity upon a person, animal, or object, attaching a positive, negative, or neutral label that imparts a value judgment. In French, the qualifying adjective encompasses various types, including relational, nominal, compound, verbal, and syntagmatic. In Arabic, it takes on verbal and denominative forms, assimilated to the verb. Morphologically, French features prefixed, suffixed, and unsuffixed adjectives, while Arabic presents adjectives crafted from a multitude of forms. Regardless of the linguistic context, the qualifying adjective, matching in gender and number the noun or pronoun to which it refers, can assume multiple functions within morphosyntactic structures. It can act as an epithet, whether anteposed or postposed, with graphic, phonic, strict, or floating agreement or concord (instances of inflection), serve as an attribute linked to the subject by a copular verb, or be affixed. Additionally, qualifying adjectives can convey varying degrees of intensity using phrasal adverbs or adverbs of comparison.

The perfect participle and the supine in two chronolects of Danish

Modern Standard Danish distinguishes between a perfect participle and a supine. The perfect participle is an adnominal non-finite form of the verb, ascribing properties to a referent (as do the prototypical adjectives) and morpho-syntactically agreeing with this referent. The supine is an indeclinable non-finite form of a verb, ending in -t, used as a component in periphrastic verb forms. Outside the attributive position, the perfect participle is used in complement constructions with the copula verbs være ‘be’ and blive ‘be’/‘become’; the supine is used in perfective constructions and periphrastic passives with the auxiliaries have ‘have’, få ‘get’, være ‘be’ and blive ‘be’/‘become’. In Modern Standard Danish, the perfect participle has restricted use (it is the marked member of the paradigm perfect participle vs. supine); the supine has a wider domain of usage (it is the unmarked member of the paradigm). In the nineteenth century, this was different. Back then, the perfect participle was the unmarked form with a wide usage domain, whereas the supine had a more restricted use. This paper presents a study of these verb forms in two corpora representing different chronolects of Danish, one corpus consisting of texts from the nineteenth century, one of texts from Modern Standard Danish.

On an undocumented type of predicate ellipsis in Spanish and its consequences for the theory of ellipsis licensing

In this paper, we introduce and discuss a type of ellipsis in Spanish, undocumented in the previous literature, which we will refer to as Predicate Phrase Ellipsis (PredP-Ellipsis), and its consequences for the theory of ellipsis licensing. PredP-Ellipsis is a type of ellipsis in which the complement of a copular verb undergoes deletion, whenever there is contrastive focus (typically encoded in Polarity) involved in the sentence. We provide an account for why this type of ellipsis is allowed in a language that lacks lower ellipses in the verbal domain (such as vP-Ellipsis), and implement our proposal by introducing an [E]-feature which is typically licensed when it enters into an Agree relation with a Polarity head higher in the structure.

Zur Diachronie der Valenz von Verbphrasemen mit der Struktur Adjektiv + Kopula

Abstract Some adjectives in the German language can only be used in connection with a copula verb (e. g., ansichtig werden and eingedenk sein/bleiben). Other adjectives can have different meanings, among which a particular meaning restricted to predicative use (i. a. bar sein). Since these constructions consist of an adjective and a fixed verb component, they can be classified as phrasemes or even as verb phrasemes. Verb phrasemes and one-word lexemes can demand a certain number of complements with a particular form and syntactic function and a certain meaning. The choice of the valency characteristics of phrasemes with a predicative adjective as the subject of this article is explained by the fact they have not yet been systematically analyzed concerning the diachronic perspective. The research approach and method examine each phraseme in its valency occurrences, documenting these by examples found in historical and modern dictionaries as well as in corpora of different kinds from Old High German to Modern German. The valency occurrences consist of a combination of complements, which are recorded as so-called complete valency. Both the quantitative and qualitative variation of complements are contained in the complete valency and can therefore be called polyvalency. Quantitative polyvalency refers to the number of complements while qualitative polyvalency refers to the type of complements. Each combination of complements found in the research material is illustrated with an example. Finally, the quantitative and qualitative valency developments are summarized in a short commentary.

Cognitive underpinnings of the meaning of Spanish estar

Abstract The Spanish copula verb estar is currently taking part in two of the most well-known paths of semantic change across different dialectal varieties of Spanish: (a) as a main copula verb, in its encroachment on the domain of ser, and (b) as the auxiliary in the Present Progressive marker, as it encroaches in the domain of the Simple Present form (i.e., Sánchez-Alonso 2018; Fuchs 2020). Here we argue for the hypothesis that estar’s participation in both paths of change is not coincidental. Focusing on the copular use, we present arguments for the proposal that estar’s encroachment is connected to its lexico-conceptual structure, which, under specific communicative pressures, is afforded greater conversational informativity, thus systematically expanding its licensing contexts and, as a result, bolstering its use. Evidence consistent with this analysis emerges from use variation for estar across several dialects of Spanish, both in its copular and auxiliary uses.

The Internal Structure of Copular Sentences with desu and da in Japanese

Japanese is a language known for its rich honorific morphology. Different from many Indo-European languages, Japanese language has its honorifics built into the grammar system. Japanese honorifics have many different forms and their usages are not always clearly predictable, which makes it quite challenging for second language learners to grasp. This paper introduces a less-known honorific pattern that clearly shows how Japanese honorifics behave grammatically. The copula verb be in Japanese has two forms: a non-honorific form da and an honorific form desu. Da is used under conditions where the speaker indicates an informal or casual talk, while desu is used when the speaker intends to present good manners to the listener. From a formal linguistic perspective, a sentence with the plain copula form and one with the honorific copula form have a different underlying structure represented in the grammar of native Japanese speakers. The paper explains such difference between copular sentences with desu and da by presenting a syntactic structure analysis. It proposes a different internal structure for a copular sentence with desu and da, and further argues that the sentence with desu has more structure in the left periphery and presents a different verb position in the internal structure in comparison to the sentence with da. The analysis motivates a syntactical way to present and explain the differences in grammatical structures and social contexts of copula use when teaching honorifics in Japanese second language classrooms. It suggests that modern Japanese second language education start teaching honorifics with copular sentences where the distinction between honorific and non-honorific use is very clear and simple.

Design and Development of Morphological Analyzer for Tigrigna Verbs using Hybrid Approach

Morphological analyzer is the base for various high-level NLP applications such as information retrieval, spell checking, grammar checking, machine translation, speech recognition, POS tagging and automatic sentence construction. This paper is carefully designed for design and analysis of morphological analyzer Tigrigna verbs using hybrid of memory learning and rules based approaches. The experiment have conducted using Python 3 where TiMBL algorithms IB2 and TRIBL2, and Finite State Transducer rules are used. The performance of the system has been evaluated using 10 fold cross validation technique. Testing was conducted using optimized parameter settings for regular verbs and linguistic rules of the Tigrigna language allomorph and phonology for the irregular verbs. The accuracy of the memory based approach with optimized parameters of TiMBL algorithm IB2 and TRIBL2 was 93.24% and 92.31%, respectively. Finally, the hybrid approach had an actual performance of 95.6% using linguistic rules for handling irregular and copula verbs.

Acquisition of estar + adjective in L2 Spanish by L1 French and Portuguese speakers

Abstract This paper reports the developmental stages of the acquisition of estar in stage-level predicate constructions in the L2 Spanish grammar of native speakers of French and Portuguese. Copular verbs exist in the L1s of both learner groups; however, only in Portuguese is there an aspectual contrast, with copula selection conditions that partially differ from those of ser and estar in Spanish. The study used data extracted from the Corpus de Aprendices de Español (CAES), made up of written texts produced by L2 Spanish learners from CEFR A1 to C1 levels. We attempt to analyse whether, and to what degree, these L2 learners are sensitive to estar copula restrictions in adjective constructions. Our analysis of the written production of 143 L1 French speakers and 361 L1 Portuguese speakers showed differing acquisitional patterns depending on the L1. We consider that the estar overextension, found in the learners’ productions, is related to the process of developing the ability to identify the specific features that distinguish the use of copular verbs in the interlanguage of our learners. Our findings, thus, provide a more fine-grained description of the semantic representation and access of interpretable features in L2 Spanish with special relevance to current hypotheses on Second Language Acquisition such as the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (Lardiere 2009).

Six reconstruction effects in Mandarin Chinese

Abstract The paper presents empirical evidence for six reconstruction effects in Mandarin Chinese. It includes data concerning the copula verb, epistemic modals, scope of aspectual sentence-final particle –le over indefinite wh-phrases, downward entailing quantifiers, predicates of creation, Binding Condition B, quantifier scope and dōu-quantification. The syntactic structures in which reconstruction applies can be derived either by A- or A-bar-movement. Our investigation brings empirical facts to bear on the syntax-semantics interface showing an essential property of natural language that semantic properties and syntactic structures do not vary freely.

Copula Construction in Kathariya Tharu

Kathariya Tharu is one of the least studied Indo-Aryan languages spoken by the Kathariya Tharu community living in Kailali district of Nepal and Gorakhpur, Gonda, Lakhimpur, and Khiri districts of India. This is a preliminary study which analyses the morphosyntactic structure of copula construction in this language. The linguistic data for this study were collected from Ghodaghodi municipality, ward no. 9, Sisaiya, ward no.12, Kota and Kailari rural municipality, ward no. 8, Lausa and were analyzed with the help of the Toolbox software. R. M. W. Dixon’s Basic Linguistic Theory has been employed as analytical tool, though insights have also been taken from other linguists. Kathariya Tharu employs the verbal copula construction strategy with three copula verbs- ho, ba, and rəh. Unlike other NIA languages in which the relation between the copula subject and copula complement is prominent, in Kathariya Tharu, it is the copula subject that determines the selection of the copula verb. However, the person, relation and function distinctions between the copula subject and copula complement disappears in the past tense and so, the same copula rəh is used with all the subjects.

From Naming Verb to Copula: The Case of Wangerooge Frisian Heit

In the now extinct Frisian dialect of the island of Wangerooge, the naming verb heit ‘to be called’ had partially grammaticalized into a copular verb ‘to be’ competing, to some extent, with the original copula wízze ‘to be’. In this paper, I discuss the development and the status of the copula heit in some detail and consider what it might tell one about the taxonomy of copular clauses (Higgins 1979). I show that the functional change from naming verb to copula initially occurred in identificational copular clauses. From there heit spread to classifi-cational and specificational copular clauses, but not to predicational ones. This development suggests a principled distinction between predicational copular clauses on the one hand and identificational copular clauses (conceived as comprising classifying, specifying, and equating ones) on the other. This does not imply, however, that heit is an identificational copula or that it selects an identificational small clause. I analyze copular heit used with an identificational small clause as a suppletive allomorph of wízze ‘to be’.*

On the Syntax of Existential Sentences in Standard Arabic

Existential sentences are noncanonical sentences that express the (non)existence of an entity. They have not received considerable attention in Standard Arabic (SA). This paper, thus, aims to propose a syntactic analysis of SA existential sentences. We first discuss the key grammatical properties of the four syntactic items, namely the copular verb, the expletive hunaaka, the pivot, and the coda phrase, that comprise the SA existential sentence. The expletive and the pivot are obligatory items in the structure, whereas the copular verb and the coda are optional. In our proposed analysis, we assume that the expletive is inserted in the Spec-TP to satisfy the EPP feature on T. We argue for the presence of a predicate phrase headed by Pred which hosts the pivot in its specifier and takes a null existential predicate as its complement. The fact that the expletive must precede the pivot and the locality requirement of the predication relation support locating the pivot in the Spec-PredP. We also assume that the coda is an adjunct, which is supported by its optionality and its inability to function as an NP. The conclusions reached may contribute to the ongoing discussion of existential constructions by presenting the perspective of SA.