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In linguistics, inverse copular constructions, named after Moro (1997), are a type of inversion in English where canonical SCP word order (subject-copula-predicative expression, e.g. ''Fred is the plumber'') is reversed in a sense, so that one appears to have the order PCS instead (predicative expression-copula-subject, e.g. ''The plumber is Fred''). The verb in these constructions is always the copula ''be'' (''am'', ''are'', ''is'', ''was'', ''were''). Inverse copular constructions are intriguing because they render the distinction between subject and predicative expression difficult to maintain. The confusion has led to focused study of these constructions,〔Inverse copular constructions have been explored in great depth. See Moro (1997) for the original proposal, Heycock and Kroch (1998), Pereltsvaig (2001), Mikkelsen (2005).〕 and their impact on the theory of grammar may be great since they appear to challenge the initial binary division of the sentence (S) into a subject noun phrase (NP) and a predicate verb phrase (VP) (S → NP VP), this division being at the core of all phrase structure grammars (as opposed to dependency grammars, which do not acknowledge the binary division). == Examples == Inverse copular constructions involve nouns and noun phrases, but they do not allow the post-copula nominal to be a personal pronoun: ::a. The cause of the riot is a picture on the wall. ::b. A picture on the wall is the cause of the riot. ::c. *A picture on the wall is it. ::a. Fred is the plumber. ::b. The plumber is Fred. ::c. *The plumber is he. The defining trait of the inverse copular constructions is that two counts of inversion appear to have occurred: the normal subject has inverted to a post-verb position, and the predicative nominal has inverted to the pre-verb position. The verb is a finite form of the copula 'be' (''am'', ''are'', ''is'', ''was'', ''were''). This type of inversion is generally NOT possible with other verbs. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Inverse copular constructions」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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