To Be or Not to Be? the Verbum Substantivum from Synchronic, Diachronic and Typological Perspectives

by Richard J. Whitt Michail L. Kotin

The verbs of the 'to be'-group, also called verba substantiva, belong to the most enigmatic phenomena of the human language. Combining a distinct suppletivity of their conjugational forms in most languages with a striking semantic and functional ambiguity, as well as unique syntactic capabilities, they form a very specific class of linguistic entities. They can be referred to, without exaggeration, as one of the conceptually gravest and most symptomatic...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1443880701
• ISBN13: 9781443880701
• Release Date: October 2015
• Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
• Length: 380 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.9" x 8.2"