Bill et. al.,
    The next question might be whether in sentences like "One X like the
others is Y" (Or "A dog like Charlie's is hard to find") traditional
grammar would treat "like the others" as prepositional phrase. If so,
then I'd very much agree that it should be pp in the predicate slot as
well. I have no problem with adverbial complements for "be" or with pp
in that role.
    If, on the other hand, it's adjective in both, would "like the others"
be adjective complement? "One of these things is not like" certainly
seems to be missing something.

Craig>


Craig et al.
>
> It's possible that the traditional like-as-adjective interpretation was
> driven partly by traditional grammars' implicit rejection of the idea that
> prepositional phrases could act as subject complements. "A cantaloupe is a
> muskmelon" and "A cantaloupe is like a muskmelon" seem roughly similar,
> suggesting "like a muskmelon" is in about the same relation to "is" as is
> "a
> muskmelon." But if PPs can't be subject complements, and especially if the
> terms you're actually using are "predicate noun" and "predicate
> adjective,"
> you can't view "like" as a preposition without creating a contradiction.
>
> I'm wanting to treat it as prepositional, but that's partly because I'm
> happy with the notion of PPs as SCs. Adverb placement seems to go well
> with
> that interpretation, too:
>
> A cantaloupe is, unsurprisingly, like a muskmelon.
> ?A cantaloupe is like, unsurprisingly, a muskmelon.
>
> The cantaloupe is actually like a watermelon.
> ?The cantalouple is like actually a watermelon
>
> The cantaloupe is, unsurprisingly, on the table.
> ?The cantaloupe is on, unsurprisingly, the table.
>
> (That third one works if you put "Dude,..." at the beginning -- but
> that's,
> like, actually a different 'like').
>
> --- Bill Spruiell
> Dept. of English
> Central Michigan University
>
> On 9/15/10 3:07 PM, "Stahlke, Herbert F.W." <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Craig,
>>
>> My first reaction was that this use of "like" was adjectival, but since
>> you
>> want a traditional treatment I checked the OED Online and Merriam
>> Webster
>> Dictionary Online.  Both treat as an adjective, although MW doesn't have
>> an
>> example with BE.
>>
>> Herb
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Hancock
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 2:52 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: like
>>
>>     I am curious about how traditional grammar handles "like" in a
>> sentence
>> like "One of these things is not like the others." (I know; Sesame
>> Street).
>>    My instinct is to say "like the others" is prepositional phrase,
>> complement
>> to "is", therefore referring back (adjectivally?) to "One of these
>> things."
>> Would that be standard?
>>    If it can be easily replaced by "resembles" (or "doesn't resemble"),
>> does
>> that mean "be like" is shading into a verb like status with "the others"
>> as
>> object? Are we OK with flexible boundaries around our categories?
>>
>> Craig
>>
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