Varia: On distinguishing between the predicative and the subject complement

Abstract

In this article we review the current concepts of the Compound Nominal Predicate and the combinations of the Verbal Predicate and the Subject Complement. There are several aspects that need further investigation. We suggest that the combinations of verbs with diminished lexical meaning and a nominal, describing a property of the subject, be removed from the concept of Compound Nominal Predicate and included into a new concept: “Combination of Verbal Predicate and Subject Complement”. Thus the term “Compound Nominal Predicate” will be reserved for combinations of the verb “sam” (resp. its synonyms “bada”, „bivam”, “predstavliavam”, “sastavliavam” and “iaviavam se”) and a nominal describing the entity denoted by the subject of the sentence. In all other instances of a verb and a nominal, describing the subject of the sentence, they will be considered a Verbal Predicate and a Subject Complement, which are secondary parts of the sentence.