Equative (definition)

Equatives are a construction indicating that two NPs are equivalent. For example in English, the sentence "Ray is the comedian" equates the two entities "Ray" and "Comedian". In Gaelic, equative constructions are often constructed using the Copula and a pronoun (typically e): 'S e Anndra an dotair" (although other constructions can be used for this purpose as well.

See Also

• Clause (definition)
• Copula (definition)

External Links

• SIL entry on equative clause
• SIL entry on subject complement
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equative

References

• SIL entry on equative clause
• Zaring, Lorie (1994) “Two “be” or not two “be” Identity, Predication and the Welsh Copula” Ms. Carlton College.
• Kearns, Kate (1989) "Predicate Nominals in Complex Predicates" MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 10, 123-134.
• Rothstein, Susan (1987) "Three forms of English be" MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 9, 225-236.