Jungties konstrukcijos ir jy gramatinis kontekstas
Copular Constructions and their Grammatical Context

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to contribute to a satisfactory classification of copular constructions. The author starts out by pointing out that a verbocentric theory of grammar yields little for an adequate analysis of copular and related constructions. A survey of the functions performed by the verb ‘be’ in the constructions under consideration shows that there is a semantic interdependence between verb meaning and the syntactic frame (argument structure). In view of this interdependence a construction grammar or cognitive grammar approach seems most promising. The author argues that little is to be gained from a proliferation of lexical meanings for the verb ‘be’ as a means of accounting for the properties of the individual constructions; rather, the focus should be on the aspects of syntactic and semantic structure that are most crucial to the predication, and on their correlation with the function of the whole construction. More specifically, with reference to copular constructions, particular attention should be paid to the semantic and/or referential properties of the (adjectival or substantival) nominal predicates.

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