Editing Copula (linguistics) (section)

== Forms ==
In many languages the principal copula is a [[verb]], such as English ''(to) be'', German {{lang|de|sein}}, [[Mixtec language|Mixtec]] {{lang|mib|kuu}},<ref name="Pustet2003Mixtec">{{Cite book|author=Regina Pustet|title=Copulas: Universals in the Categorization of the Lexicon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-LWcB_FcaIQC&q=mixtec+kuu|date=12 June 2003|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-155530-5|page=47}}</ref> [[Tuareg languages|Touareg]] ''emous'',<ref name="Stassen" /> etc. It may inflect for [[grammatical category|grammatical categories]] such as [[grammatical tense|tense]], [[grammatical aspect|aspect]] and [[grammatical mood|mood]], like other verbs in the language. Being a very commonly used verb, it is likely that the copula has [[irregular verb|irregular]] inflected forms; in English, the verb ''be'' has a number of highly irregular ([[suppletion|suppletive]]) forms and has more different inflected forms than any other English verb (''am'', ''is'', ''are'', ''was'', ''were'', etc.; see [[English verbs]] for details).

Other copulas show more resemblances to [[pronoun]]s. That is the case for [[Classical Chinese]] and [[Guarani language|Guarani]], for instance. In highly [[synthetic language]]s, copulas are often [[suffix]]es, attached to a noun, but they may still behave otherwise like ordinary verbs: {{lang|iu|-u-}} in [[Inuit languages]].

In some other languages, such as [[Beja language|Beja]] and [[Ket language|Ket]], the copula takes the form of suffixes that attach to a noun but are distinct from the [[grammatical conjugation|person agreement markers]] used on [[predicative verb]]s.<ref name="Stassen">{{Cite book |last=Stassen |first=Leon |year=1997 |title=Intransitive Predication |series=Oxford studies in typology and linguistic theory |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=39 |isbn=978-0-19-925893-2}}</ref> This phenomenon is known as ''[[nonverbal person agreement]]'' (or ''nonverbal subject agreement''), and the relevant markers are always established as deriving from [[clitic]]ized independent pronouns.

=== Zero copula ===
{{Main|Zero copula}}
In some languages, copula omission occurs within a particular grammatical context. For example, speakers of [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Geʽez]] and [[Quechuan languages]] consistently drop the copula in present tense: Bengali: {{lang|bn|আমি মানুষ}}, Aami manush, 'I (am a) human'; Russian: {{lang|ru|я человек}}, {{transliteration|ru|ya chelovek}} {{gloss|I (am a) human}}; Indonesian: {{lang|id|saya seorang manusia}} {{gloss|I (am) a human}}; Turkish: {{lang|tr|o insan}} {{gloss|s/he (is a) human}}; Hungarian: {{lang|hu|ő ember}} {{gloss|s/he (is) a human}}; Arabic: {{lang|ar|أنا إنسان}}, {{transliteration|ar|ʾana ʾinsān}} {{gloss|I (am a) human}}; Hebrew: {{lang|he|אני אדם}}, {{transliteration|he|ʔani ʔadam}} {{gloss|I (am a) human}}; Geʽez: {{lang|gez|አነ ብእሲ/ብእሲ አነ}}, {{transliteration|gez|ʔana bəʔəsi}} / {{transliteration|gez|bəʔəsi ʔana}} {{gloss|I (am a) man}} / {{gloss|(a) man I (am)}}; [[Southern Quechua]]: {{lang|qu|payqa runam}} {{gloss|s/he (is) a human}}. The usage is known generically as the zero copula. In other tenses (sometimes in forms other than third person singular), the copula usually reappears.

Some languages drop the copula in poetic or [[aphorism|aphoristic]] contexts. Examples in English include
* ''The more, the merrier.''
* ''Out of many, one.''
* ''True that.''
Such poetic copula dropping is more pronounced in some languages other than English, such as the [[Romance language]]s.

In informal speech of English, the copula may also be dropped in general sentences, as in "She a nurse" or "They not like us." It is a feature of [[African-American Vernacular English]], but is also used by a variety of other English speakers. An example is the sentence "I saw twelve men, each a soldier."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bender |first=Emily |year=2001 |title=Syntactic Variation and Linguistic Competence: The Case of AAVE Copula Absence |type=Ph.D. Dissertation |publisher=Stanford University |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/ebender/dissertation/bender_thesis.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://faculty.washington.edu/ebender/dissertation/bender_thesis.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}{{page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref>

==== Examples in specific languages ====
In Ancient Greek, when an adjective precedes a noun with an article, the copula is understood: {{lang|grc|ὁ οἴκος ἐστὶ μακρός}}, "the house is large", can be written {{lang|grc|μακρός ὁ οἴκος}}, "large the house (is)."{{Citation needed|date=October 2015}}

In Quechua ([[Southern Quechua]] used for the examples), zero copula is restricted to present tense in third person singular ({{lang|qu|kan}}): {{lang|qu|Payqa runam}} {{gloss|(s)he is a human}}; but: {{lang|qu|(paykuna) runakunam kanku}} {{gloss|(they) are human}}.{{Citation needed|reason=English, Hungarian, and Irish are treated at 'Zero copula'. There are no references for Greek or Quechua here or on that page.|date=February 2014}}

In [[Māori language|Māori]], the zero copula can be used in [[predicative expression]]s and with continuous verbs (many of which take a copulative verb in many Indo-European languages)&nbsp;— {{lang|mi|He nui te whare}}, literally {{gloss|a big the house}}, {{gloss|the house (is) big}}; {{lang|mi|I te tēpu te pukapuka}}, literally {{gloss|at (past [[locative]] particle) the table the book}}, {{gloss|the book (was) on the table}}; {{lang|mi|Nō Ingarangi ia}}, literally {{gloss|from England (s)he}}, {{gloss|(s)he (is) from England}}, {{lang|mi|Kei te kai au}}, literally {{gloss|at the (act of) eating I}}, {{gloss|I (am) eating}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_mao |title=Language Maori |publisher=WALS Online |access-date=2014-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306092639/http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_mao |archive-date=2014-03-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Moorfield | first = John | year = 2004 | title = Te Kākano | publisher = University of Waikato}}</ref>

Alternatively, in many cases, the particle {{lang|mi|ko}} can be used as a copulative (though not all instances of {{lang|mi|ko}} are used as thus, like all other Māori particles, {{lang|mi|ko}} has multiple purposes): {{lang|mi|Ko nui te whare}} {{gloss|The house is big}}; {{lang|mi|Ko te pukapuka kei te tēpu}} {{gloss|It is the book (that is) on the table}}; {{lang|mi|Ko au kei te kai}} {{gloss|It is me eating}}.

However, when expressing identity or class membership, {{lang|mi|ko}} must be used: {{lang|mi|Ko tēnei tāku pukapuka}} {{gloss|This is my book}}; {{lang|mi|Ko Ōtautahi he tāone i Te Waipounamu}} {{gloss|Christchurch is a city in the South Island (of New Zealand)}}; {{lang|mi|Ko koe tōku hoa}} {{gloss|You are my friend}}.

When expressing identity, {{lang|mi|ko}} can be placed on either object in the clause without changing the meaning ({{lang|mi|ko tēnei tāku pukapuka}} is the same as {{lang|mi|ko tāku pukapuka tēnei}}) but not on both ({{lang|mi|ko tēnei ko tāku pukapuka}} would be equivalent to saying "it is this, it is my book" in English).
<ref>{{Citation | last = Barlow | first = D. Cleve | year = 1981 | title = The Meaning of Ko in New Zealand Maori | journal = Pacific Studies | volume = 4 | pages = 124–141 | url = https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/PacificStudies/article/viewFile/9191/8840 | access-date = February 7, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140221165723/https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/PacificStudies/article/viewFile/9191/8840 | archive-date = February 21, 2014 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In Hungarian, zero copula is restricted to present tense in third person singular and plural: {{lang|hu|Ő ember}}/{{lang|hu|Ők emberek}}&nbsp;— {{gloss|s/he is a human}} / {{gloss|they are humans}}; but: {{lang|hu|(én) ember vagyok}} {{gloss|I am a human}}, {{lang|hu|(te) ember vagy}} {{gloss|you are a human}}, {{lang|hu|mi emberek vagyunk}} {{gloss|we are humans}}, {{lang|hu|(ti) emberek vagytok}} {{gloss|you (all) are humans}}. The copula also reappears for stating locations: {{lang|hu|az emberek a házban vannak}} {{gloss|the people are in the house}}, and for stating time: {{lang|hu|hat óra van}} {{gloss|it is six o'clock}}. However, the copula may be omitted in colloquial language: {{lang|hu|hat óra (van)}} {{gloss|it is six o'clock}}.

Hungarian uses copula {{lang|hu|lenni}} for expressing location: {{lang|hu|Itt van Róbert}} {{gloss|Bob is here}}, but it is omitted in the third person present tense for attribution or identity statements: {{lang|hu|Róbert öreg}} {{gloss|Bob is old}}; {{lang|hu|ők éhesek}} {{gloss|they are hungry}}; {{lang|hu|Kati nyelvtudós}} {{gloss|Cathy is a linguist}} (but {{lang|hu|Róbert öreg volt}} {{gloss|Bob was old}}, {{lang|hu|éhesek voltak}} {{gloss|they were hungry}}, {{lang|hu|Kati nyelvtudós volt}} {{gloss|Cathy was a linguist}}).

In Turkish, both the third person singular and the third person plural copulas are omittable. {{lang|tr|Ali burada}} and {{lang|tr|Ali burada'''dır'''}} both mean {{gloss|Ali is here}}, and {{lang|tr|Onlar aç}} and {{lang|tr|Onlar aç'''lar'''}} both mean {{gloss|They are hungry}}. Both of the sentences are acceptable and grammatically correct, but sentences with the copula are more formal.

The Turkish first person singular copula suffix is omitted when introducing oneself. {{lang|tr|Bora ben}} {{gloss|I am Bora}} is grammatically correct, but {{lang|tr|Bora ben'''im'''}} (same sentence with the copula) is not for an introduction (but is grammatically correct in other cases).

Further restrictions may apply before omission is permitted. For example, in the [[Irish language]], {{lang|ga|is}}, the present tense of the copula, may be omitted when the [[predicate (grammar)|predicate]] is a noun. {{lang|ga|Ba}}, the past/conditional, cannot be deleted. If the present copula is omitted, the pronoun (e.g., {{lang|ga|é}}, {{lang|ga|í}}, {{lang|ga|iad}}) preceding the noun is omitted as well.