Theoretical approach to identifying structures

The verb 'to be', as an element of relation between two expressions, intervenes in the formation of three types of structures: ascriptive, identifying and emphasising. These three structures have different purposes: ascriptive structures assign a property to the subject (Peter is clever), identifying structures identify an entity (Peter is the doctor) and emphasising structures highlight a segment of a base structure (John was the one we saw yesterday). The latter are extremely complex and have only recently been studied. As a consequence, almost no text touches on all their defining aspects, which is why, if one wishes to have a global view of these constructions, it is necessary to combine and play with a large number of materials. In order to try to resolve this situation, in this book we bring together the features that define and characterise them, as well as the points where they can converge with the aforementioned ascriptive and emphasising features.