Directives with a copular verb in Roman comedy

This paper considers the specific characteristics of directives involving a copular verb in Roman comedy. Different variables are included in the analysis: the social status of characters, their gender, the subtype of speech act, and the level of compliance implied in it. These variables, as well as an understanding of particular characters and the dramatic context, allow us to describe and explain the behaviour of esse in directives, providing evidence for cases in which verbs of this type behave like other predicates, and for circumstances in which they deviate from the general trend. A hierarchy of the most common and the most peculiar expressions is also proposed, focussing primarily on the distinction between subtypes of directives.