Comparing the functional range of English to be to German sein: a test of the boundary permeability hypothesis

Abstract

Abstract The boundary permeability hypothesis views language as a system of categories which are more or less rigidly separated from one another. In previous work on grammatical categories, English was characterized as a soft boundary and German as a strict boundary language. This project presents a test of the prediction that English to be has a wider functional range than its German counterpart sein. The range of these verbs is determined on the basis of a bidirectional translation study. English to be is translated by a larger variety of lexical verbs in German while sein is translated by a smaller number of lexical verbs in English. In fact, the translation equivalents of sein form a subset of those of to be. Moreover, to be plays a much larger role in constructions such as there is and it is than sein does. The boundary permeability hypothesis views this structural difference and the wider semantic range of to be as two sides of the same coin. It is suggested that English is a more speaker-friendly language than German.