cop: copula
A copula is the relation between the nominal predicate (přísudek jmenný) and
the copular verb být “to be” (or its variants bývat, bývávat).
The verb stát se “to become”, despite being counted among copular verbs by some authors,
is not analyzed as cop.
We normally take a copula as a dependent of its complement (the nominal predicate). The nominal predicate is usually a noun, an adjective or a participle.
Ondřej je čestný muž . \n Ondřej is honest man .
cop(muž, je)
cop(man, is)
Ondřej je čestný . \n Ondřej is honest .
cop(čestný, je)
cop(honest, is)
Note that the passive participle may be also used as nominal predicate with copula. Hence it may be difficult to distinguish a passive construction from a copula construction. The former focuses on the process while the latter emphasizes the result.
- Passive: Smlouva byla.
AUXpodepsána v Bílém domě. “The contract was signed in the White House.” - Copula: Smlouva byla.
VERBpodepsána červeným inkoustem. “The contract was signed in red ink.”
Smlouva byla podepsána v Bílém domě . \n Contract was signed in White House .
aux:pass(podepsána, byla)
aux:pass(signed, was)
Smlouva byla podepsána červeným inkoustem . \n Contract was signed in-red ink .
cop(podepsána, byla)
cop(signed, was)
The nominal predicate may also be expressed using a prepositional phrase. Phrases expressing the state of the subject are clear predicates, e.g. Lenka je v kondici “Lenka is in shape”. Under the v2 guidelines, prepositional phrases expressing locations are also considered predicates, to increase parallelism across languages.
Thus the following sentences receive parallel analyses:
- Lenka je skvělá. “Lenka is brilliant.”
- Lenka je v kondici. “Lenka is in shape.”
- Lenka je v kuchyni. “Lenka is in the kitchen.”
In contrast, the following two are no longer parallel:
- Lenka je v kuchyni. “Lenka is in the kitchen.”
- Lenka zůstala v kuchyni. “Lenka stayed in the kitchen.”
Lenka je v kondici . \n Lenka is in shape .
cop(kondici, je)
cop(shape, is)
case(kondici, v)
case(shape, in)
nsubj(kondici, Lenka-1)
nsubj(shape, Lenka-7)
Lenka je v kuchyni . \n Lenka is in kitchen .
nsubj(kuchyni, Lenka-1)
nsubj(kitchen, Lenka-7)
cop(kuchyni, je)
cop(kitchen, is)
case(kuchyni, v)
case(kitchen, in)
cop in other languages: [bej] [bg] [cop] [cs] [de] [el] [en] [es] [et] [eu] [fi] [fo] [fr] [fro] [ga] [gsw] [hy] [id] [it] [ja] [ka] [kk] [kpv] [ky] [myv] [no] [pcm] [pt] [ro] [ru] [sl] [sv] [swl] [tr] [u] [urj] [vi] [xcl] [yue] [zh]