Eckhard Bick - VISL

4.5 Under the magnifying glass:
Special research topics
4.5.1 Predicative constructions
4.5.1.1 Copula mediated subject complements and focus assignment
In predicative constructions with copula verbs (), as I define them here, a copula
predicator predicates one nominal constituent (the predicative or subject complement)
of another (the subject). Since Portuguese uses two lexically different verbs to cover the
lexical space of English 'to be', one as a kind of "ontological" identity predicator for
mainly nominal subject complements ('ser' ), and the other as a "state" predicator
for both attributive subject complements and (locative) adverbials ('estar' ), it
makes sense to uphold this distinction for copula-like constructions in general. In this
chapter, I will thus discuss only the first type, @SUBJ + + @SC. Tests with
prototypical material show that even Portuguese word order is not entirely free in these
cases (i-vi). I have chosen a non finite subclause as subject (underlined in the example),
since an ICL - in the absence of another subject candidate ICL - can not normally
function as subject and will thus force an unambiguous assignment of syntactic
function.
(i) Fazer isso (não) é perigoso. [inversion: ?Perigoso (não) é fazer isso]
(ii) (Não) é perigoso fazer isso. [inversion: *(Não) é fazer isso perigoso]
(iii) ?Perigoso fazer isso (não) é. [inversion: *Fazer isso perigoso (não) é]
The inversion test failures (where the nominal elements were exchanged) document
both the "non-predicativity" of infinitives, and - as a consequence - that there is a
"normal", if not fixed, sequence for copula constructions. The regularity shows if one
considers the clause as a 3-element circular chain to be broken in one position, or a
continuous 3-piece-segment to be cut from an infinite string:
..... SUBJ - VK - SC - SUBJ - VK - SC - SUBJ - VK .....
If one, with Togeby (1993, p.111), information-theoretically defines as topic what an
utterance uses as a (known) point of departure, and as focus that constituent which
offers relevant new information in such a way that it will be affected by a logical
negation of the clause, - then subject-hood, definiteness and clause-initial position
suggest topic function, while complements other than subject, indefiniteness and clausefinal
position suggest focus function. Since what subject complements do is predicate
(i.e. reveal information) in a negatable way, and what they relate to is subjects, they
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