8

COPULA CONSTRUCTIONS IN ENGLISH

In the last two chapters, we have been exploiting the ability of Dynamic to allow steps of inference to interact with the syntactic process of establishing representations of content to provide explanations of problematic linguistic data. The use of various kinds of underspecification permit these explanations through processes of update, either derived from computational actions (*ADJUNCTION and MERGE) or through pragmatic reasoning (abduc• tion and substitution). In this chapter, we push these ideas a bit further, and develop the analysis of expletives put forward in Chapter 5 and developed for Swahili in Chapter 7 into a (partial) account of the in English that utilises semantic underspecification and pragmatic enrichment. In particular we present an account of the predicative construction, and show how an analysis of the "double expletive" construction involving forms of the string there be can be given. We end the chapter with a brief account of equative and specificational copular clauses which exploits the properties of the LINK mechanism. In all these constructions, we argue, the interpretation of the string crucially depends on the properties of the expressions that appear with the copula, the context in which the string is uttered and the parsing process itself. This will require us to look a bit more closely at the syntax/ interface and the discussion in this chapter is thus inevitably more speculative than previously. We believe, however, that it provides enough substance to give the reader an idea of the explanatory potential of Dynamic Syntax for constructions whose interpretation varies with local and non-local context.

8.1. ANALYSING BE

The copula appears in a whole range of constructions which apparently involve complements of different sorts and which show a variety of interpreta• tions. For example, in English we find be inducing an interpretation of identity with a noun phrase complement in equatives (8.1a); as doing little more than 334 8. Copula Constructions in English hosting tense and agreement information with adjective, prepositional and nominal phrases in predicatives (8.1b); giving rise to existential interpretation in construction with there (8.1c); as some sort of presentational marker with an expletive subject (8. Id); as part of a construction determining focus in cleft (8.1e), and pseudo-cleft (8.If) constructions; and (rarely) as providing "existential focus" in certain intransitive constructions (8-lg)1: (8.1) a. Mary is the dancer. b. John is silly. c. There is a riot on Princes Street. d. It's me. e. It is Mary who is the dancer. f. What we want is a good review. g. Neuroses just ARE (they don't need a cause).

The variability in the interpretation of be in (8.1) is further compounded by the subtle differences in meaning exhibited by very similar sentences. For example, copular clauses involving a definite noun phrase give rise to slightly different interpretations according to whether the definite NP precedes or follows the copula. Equative clauses, as in (8.2a), involve a post-copular definite which appears to be fully referential, while specificational clauses, as in (8.2b) involve an initial definite which appears to provide a description of an unknown entity, rather than to pick out some specific object (Heycock 1994; Heycock and Kroch 1999; Mikkelsen 2004, etc.). (8.2) a. John is the culprit, b. The culprit is John. Whether a string consisting of two noun phrases and a form of the copula is interpreted as predicative or equative thus depends largely on the of the post-copular term: an equative reading is only possible if this is definite.2 Furthermore, if both noun phrases are definite, then either an equative or a specificational reading may result, depending on whether the post-copular term may (or must) be interpreted as fully referential in context and whether the initial term need not be. A sentence such as that in (8.3) where both noun phrases contain the definite may be interpreted as equative or specificational according to the context of utterance. (8.3) The culprit is the teacher. Such variation in interpretation according to the definiteness of a noun phrase is found also in constructions of the copula with the expletive pronoun there. 1 We leave on one side the grammaticalised constructions of passive and progressive in English. 2 The interpretation of specific indefinites seems to be able to induce quasi-equative readings: (i) Mary is a student I've been waiting for for twenty years.