ArticleAuthors: Nguyễn Vân Phổ (2024-07)
Vietnamese linguists have proposed various arguments to describe “là” as a verb, copula, connective, relational word, particle, and most recently as a syntactic operator specializing in demarcating Theme - Rheme. However, their attempts to describe its meaning have not been sufficiently detailed or convincing. In this article, the author demonstrates that “là” actually acts as a predicate/vcrb while still carrying out the function of a Theme - Rheme demarcator. Additionally, it acts as a preposition in sentences expressing the process of speaking and thinking. In terms of meaning, “là” is a relative predicate. The verb “là” differs from action, state, and existence predicates in that it does not directly describe an entity undergoing transitivity or intransitivity (i.e., it lacks th... 
