Predication

Predicator

Predicator is the job the verb is doing. This is the engine of the sentence.

While we often use the word “verb” to describe the category of the word (the part of speech), predicator describes the “job” that word is doing in the sentence. It is the heart of the clause that “licenses” the other parts (like the subject, objects, and predicatives).

What the verb does?

• Verbs like make, elect, become, turn, appoint do the heavy lifting for change or result

They appointed here CEO (the verb is designed to change identity, complement, works)

Using the verb

• Nouns: Definition. When you use an NP, you are categorizing the subject.

• Adjectives: Description. When you use an AdjP, you are just painting a property onto them.

• Prepositions: Direction. Use them when the verb doesn’t naturally “point” toward the new state.

Change vs. Result

AdjP and PP may be decipitive or resultative for both predicative complement and predicative adjunct.

NP, however, can not be resultative for predicative adjunct.

Category	Function	Depictive Example	Resultative Example
NP	Complement	He is a king.	They made him king.
NP	Adjunct	He died a king.	Not possible
AdjP	Complement	It seems broken.	It became broken.
AdjP	Adjunct	He left it broken.	He kicked it broken.
PP	Complement	She is in power.	She rose to power.
PP	Adjunct	She ruled in power.	She worked herself into power.

• With complements: The verb (make, elect, become, turn) is specifically designed to express a change or a result. It does the “heavy lifting,” allowing the NP to simply name the final state.

• With adjuncts: The verb is already “busy” with its own action (die, run, eat). Since there is no “result-oriented” verb to help, the NP is stuck describing the state during the action (depictive).

NP is heavy, AdjP is light

NP provides definition - the *entire* identity.

AdjP describes properties - a *partial* aspect.

Adjectives are not total identities. Because of this, they can often be resultative adjuncts where NPs cannot.

This is why NPt will not work for predicative-adjunct as resultitve. Since there is no “result-oriented” verb to help, the NP is stuck describing the state during the action (depictive).

The artist hammered the silver a bowl.

Hammered only licenses the object (the silver). “A bowl” is a heavy new identity. English can’t just “drop” it there.

Anchor change or identity with preposition

English grammar generally prefers to anchor a change in identity or state to a preposition like “to” or “into”, unless a verb like “make” or “elect” is specifically licensing the transition.

Without transition licensing, the NP needs a preposition bridge.

The artist hammered the silver into a bowl (works, with “into”)