Semantiac and Pragmatic Study on Copular Sentences

我们已经考虑了英语和日语中的各种类型的系动词句。分析系动词句需要准确理解每个NP在特定位置上的语义功能。NPTV（NP involving a variable）的概念在解释非指称性NP的特征方面被证明是至关重要的。Nishiyama（2003）提出了以下发现：（1）“A wa B ga C（da）”结构的歧义性仅能从有无指定概念的角度得到满意的解释。(2)有几种类型的谓语句具有“A wa B da”的形式，其中B具有包含在自身中的指定意义。(3)系动词句和存在句之间存在着内在的联系，NP的指称/非指称区分是区分它们亚型的关键。熊本（2001，2003，2004）将NPIV的概念应用于英语系动词句和存在句的分析，发现：（4）it-clefts和list-there-sentences具有相似性，都涉及NPIV的概念：前者指定变量的值，后者断言可能值的存在。(5)替代阅读中的反事实系动词句不是用定语NP的概念，而是用NPIV的概念来解释的

We have considered various types of copular sentences in English and Japanese. Analysis of copular sentences requires an accurate understanding of the semantic functions each NP performs in a particular position. The notion of NPTV (NP involving a variable) has been proved to be crucial in explaining the characteristics of non-referential NPs which typically appear in specificational sentences.Nishiyama (2003) presents the following findings among others:(1) The ambiguity of the construction 'A wa B ga C (da)' is satisfactorily explained only in terms of the presence or absence of the notion of specification.(2) There are types of predicational sentences with the form 'A wa B da' in which B has the sense of specification incorporated within itself.(3) There is an interconnection between copular sentences and existential sentences in that the referential/non-referential distinction of NPs is essential in classifying their subtypes.Kumamoto (2001, 2003, 2004) applied the notion of NPIV to the analysis of English copular sentences and existential sentences to make the following findings:(4) it-clefts and list-there-sentences have similarity in that the notion of NPIV is involved in both cases : the former specify the value for a variable and the latter assert the existence of possible values.(5) Counterfactual copular sentences on the replacement reading are adequately explained not in terms of the notion of attributive NP but in terms of the notion of NPIV