On 7 Jul 99, at 21:46, Christopher Maloney wrote:
[...]
> Yes, and what about when is is being used to introduce an
> adjective, such as "she is beautiful"? I thought it was
> restricted to the "is of identity", but some of the examples
> seem to be these modification types of statements.
>
> I think it all depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is.
It does, and for that reason some people have experimented with the E-choice dialect, in which one attempts to avoid the 'is' of identity while retaining the helping-verb uses of 'to be.'
However, even in E-choice I would say, "I find her beautiful" to emphasize the idea that beauty arises from an interaction, rather than a fixed property of a person or thing.