1 Adjective Classes in Typological Perspective 7A, S, CS focus marker -ne (optional) —
O, non-core arguments — topical non-subject
marker -nuku
CC
That is, both S in the intransitive clause (ia) and copula subject (CS) in the copula
clause (ib) may take suffix -ne, if that NP is in focus. The adjective hanu in (ib)
is in copula complement (CC) function and may take neither suffix -ne nor suf-
fix -nuku. Note that it is not possible to treat (ib) as a type of extended intransi-
tive clause, with namu 'evil spirit' as S argument and hanu as an oblique argument;
if this were a valid analysis then hanu should be able to take topical non-subject
marker -nuku, which in fact it cannot do.
In Fijian, an NP functioning as head of an intransitive predicate can take all
the modifiers available for a verb in this slot. In Tariana, a non-verb as head of an
intransitive predicate takes tense-evidentiality, mood, aspect, and most other suf-
fixes that would be available for a verb in the slot. Different types of clause nucleus
have varying properties with respect to prefixes; in brief, pronominal prefixes are
used with transitive and with active intransitive (Sa) verbs and with the copula
verb -dia- 'become', but not with stative intransitive (S 0 ) verbs nor with non-verbs
as head of an intransitive predicate.
2.1. THE TERM'PREDICATE'
The term 'predicate' was originally used, in Greek logic, for everything in a clause
besides the subject. The prototypical use of'predicate' in modern linguistics is for
transitive or intransitive verb, plus modifiers, but not including any NP.^1 In the ap-
proach followed here, the CC is a core argument—similar to A, O, S, and CS—so
that it would be unhelpful and misleading to refer to it as the predicate or as part of
the predicate (as has sometimes been done). In view of this, when the term predi-
cate is used in connection with a copula clause it must be taken just to refer to the
copula verb.
Careful use of the term 'predicate' is particularly important when discussing the
properties of adjectives. Compare (3) in English with (4) in Fijian.
(3) [myfather] c[is]COPULA PREDICATE ItoW]cc
(4) [e fca/avM]INTRANSITIVEDICAT
3sgS tall ARTICLE father-isg.POSSESSOR
'my father is tall'
(^1) Members of the post-Bloomfieldian school and their successors (including Chomsky and his
followers) like to employ binary divisions in linguistic analysis. A clause is said to consist of an NP
and a 'VP', where the 'VP' may include an object NP (in an accusative language). The label 'predicate'
is sometimes applied to the 'VP'. This is a different use of'predicate' from that employed here (which
follows the majority practice of linguistics from outside this school).
CS