Thanks. I know I was oversimplifying. The point I was making was that the 
verb 'be' doesn't seem to express any meaning because the same meaning can 
often be expressed without any verb at all.
         Dick

At 09:49 28/07/2004, you wrote:
>Hello,
>If I may put in a word... Hudsons's statement that Russian does not have 
>"be" is
>not true. In (3) obviously not. But if we put the sentence into the past:
>was (byl) is absolutely indispensible.
>Moreover even in the present, there are contexts that "is" (est') is also
>necessary.
>Richard
>
>Citando Richard Hudson <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> > Ok - so are you really saying that passives have different semantic
> > structures from actives? I.e. (2) has a layer of semantic structure that's
> > absent from (1), in which she is the er of a be-type structure?
> > (1)  A specialist saw her.
> > (2)  She was seen by a specialist.
> > If so, are you saying that languages like Russian that have no be have
> > different semantic structures from those like English that do have be in
> > sentences like (3)?
> > (3)   Ivan is tall.
> > And if so, are you really separating semantics from syntax? Just wondering
> > ...
> >
> > At 20:39 27/07/2004, you wrote:
> > > > >I think And's account gives us a handle on how to explain that
> > > > structurally.
> > > > >(Incidentally, we haven't yet touched on the question of how the
> > argument
> > > > >structure of the main verb affects the binding structure of the
> > > > other one.)
> > > > ## Yes - there's something very syntactic about it, because the subject
> > of
> > > > the subordinate verb doesn't have to be er:
> > > > (1)  I promised to be given a good mark.  (Is that ok?)
> > > > (2)  I persuaded her to be seen by a specialist.
> > > >
> > >
> > >Hmm. I think I'd still have an er in there. As you may know, I suspect
> > >that's just regular BE (well, in any case, it is the BE that is 
> responsible
> > >for the funny properties of its er).
> >
> >
> > Dick (Richard) Hudson, FBA
> > Dept of Phonetics and Linguistics,
> > University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
> > 020 7679 3152; fax 020 7383 4108; www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/home.htm
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Dick (Richard) Hudson, FBA
Dept of Phonetics and Linguistics,
University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
020 7679 3152; fax 020 7383 4108; www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/home.htm