Brief notes on the semantics of copular sentences

The semantics of copular constructions  has been at least as puzzling as its syntax for a long time, from the pre-generative era (where the difference between the identity and the predicative uses of the copula have played a central role) into the development of the generative paradigm and modern formal semantics. Part of the problem stems from the great variety of phrases that can occur in postcopular position (e.g., definites and indefinites DPs– but not so naturally strong quantifiers, and also PPs, APs,…), variety that forces us to deal with expression of different semantic types. Things have gotten even more intriguing since the advent of event based semantics. The present note provides a brief map of the main semantic issues pertaining to the interpretation of copular structures, and of the possible paths that are currently being pursued.