2.1.4.1. Copular constructions
Adjectival phrases can also be predicates [LEXICON 3.4]. However, LSC does not use a copular verb to express non-verbal predication. In the example below, tall is predicating a property of John.
joan tall.
‘Joan is tall.’
Even though copular sentences occur very often without a copula, some signs that are found in copular sentences are functionally similar to a copula. These signs are glossed as es-0, es-2 and person.
a) joan tall es-0.
‘Joan is tall.’
b) joan tall es-2.
‘Joan is tall.’
These signs may be placed either in final position, as observed in the examples above, or they may also be placed before the adjectival predicate in order to emphasize the property expressed, as illustrated below.
a) joan es-0 tall.
‘Joan is tall.’
b) joan es-2 tall.
‘Joan is tall.’
c) joan person tall.
‘Joan is tall.’
Negation in copular constructions is realized with the negative sign no plus specific non-manual marking: the mouthing /no es/, which in Catalan and Spanish literally means ‘is not’.
/no es/
a) josep interpreter no_es.
‘Josep is not an interpreter.’
/no es/
b) josep interpreter es-0 no_es.
‘Josep is not an interpreter.’
There are cases of predication, like locative sentences, in which the postcopular category is commonly categorized as a prepositional phrase. In LSC, these locative predicates commonly cooccur with the verb there_be without any element that resembles an adposition, as exemplified below.
tongue-wg
delfi university there_be.
‘Delfi is at the university.’
The same sentence may be expressed adding the sign present (a), and it may also be expressed omitting the manual part of the sign there_be (b).
tongue-wg
a) delfi university present there_be .
‘Delfi is at the university.’
tongue-wg
b) delfi university present.
‘Delfi is at the university.’
Specificational sentences in LSC are expressed in the same way as adjectival phrases. In the example below, instead of ascribing a property to the winner the signer specifies who the winner is.
person winner joan.
‘The winner is Joan.’
This type of copular constructions may also be expressed through the use of rhetorical questions (also known as question-answer pairs). In examples (a) and (b) below the non-manual markers that spread over person winner, and person winner who are the ones typically found in a rhetorical question. In (a) the interrogative wh-sign who is expressed along with the non-manual markers typical of these constructions (raised eyebrows). In (b), however, the interrogative sign who is not overtly expressed, and the meaning is derived from the non-manual markers only.
rhq
a) person winner who joan.
‘The winner is Joan.’
rhq
b) person winner joan.
‘The winner is Joan.’
Moreover, the sign es-0 may be used in order to express specificational sentences. In the examples below, the order of the elements is crucial to understand the meaning of the sentence as specificational and not as a regular copular sentence.
a) winner es-0 joan. [video needs to be recorded]
‘The winner is Joan.’
b) professor es-0 gemma.
‘The professor is Gemma.’
Lastly, the sign es-0 is used in some generic sentences in an expressive way in order to express properties that the signer thinks are inherent to the subject.
joan winner es-0++.
‘Joan is a natural winner.’