Article published In: Linguistics in the Netherlands 2025
Edited by Kristel Doreleijers, Remco Knooihuizen and Eva van Lier
[Nota Bene 2:2] 2025
► pp. 340–356
A Grambank typology of omnipredicativity
Copula use in nominal predication and subject indexing
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.
Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Amsterdam.
Published online: 31 October 2025
https://doi.org/10.1075/nb.00037.mic
https://doi.org/10.1075/nb.00037.mic
Abstract
The present work utilises Grambank data about 1943 languages to look at two features of omnipredicativity — lack of copula and argument indexing. Methodologically, it successfully replicates the phylogenetic and areal bias controls outlined by Guzmán Naranjo, Matías & Laura Becker. 2021. Statistical bias control in typology. Linguistic Typology, 26(3), 605–670. so Bayesian statistics can evaluate the presence of an effect. Via this route, I find no effect of a lack of bound subject-indexing on copula use in predicate nominals. However, there are some important takeaways for future omnipredicativity research and the use of big-database typological data. Future inquiries into omnipredicativity would benefit from a multivariate approach to variables such as degrees of boundedness of S-indexes, degrees of overlap of S-indexing systems for nouns and verbs, and degrees of copula use in predicate nominals. However, this is not easily possible when using predominantly binary Grambank data. I also found that copula use in nominal predication seems to be an areal feature.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Omnipredicativity as nominal predication and S-indexing
- 3.Method
- 3.1Database data
- 3.2Statistics
- 4.Results
- 4.1Effect of indexing
- 4.2Model evaluation
- 4.3Model comparison
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Concluding remarks
- Acknowledgements
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