"Like" is actually a compounding form in "summer-like". English
compounds often have phrasal analogues, like "like summer", but the
rules of compounding are such that the direction is from phrase to
compound rather than from compound to phrase. Curiously, to add a bit
of irrelevant history, "like" and "-ly" both go back to Old English
"lic" (pronounced "leech"), meaning "body". It got used as a
compounding form and later as a suffix meaning "in the manner/fashion
of". The modern meaning of "like" as a preposition goes back to that,
and the noun+prep compound "summer-like" is almost a direct translation
of the OE form. But "summer-like" is formed from "like summer", rather
than the other way round.
Herb Stahlke
Thanks for your response, Kathleen. I do follow what you're saying
about
explaining it as a complement. To satisfy my own curiosity about "like"
in
this case, would "like summer" be a transposition of "summer-like" and
consequently operate as an adjective? Heather
On 9/23/04 3:08 PM, "Kathleen M. Ward" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I would say that many, many copulative/linking/intensive verbs are
> followed by prepositional phrases as part of their complementation:
>
> He was under several delusions
>
> The now turned into slush
>
> They continued in their several perceptions (Henry James, I think)
>
> They felt under an obligation
>
> etc.
>
> I would just say that copulative/linking/intensive verbs often have
> the potential to be followed by
>
> an Adjective Phrase
>
> a Noun Phrase
>
> or
>
> a Prepositional Phrase
>
> but I would not say that these prepositional phrases are adverbial,
> just another form of subject complement.
>
> I defer to others, with better drawing programs (and abilities) to
> produce a tree diagram, but I would do the sentence in question as a
> complement, not an adjunct modifier.
>
> KMW
>
>
>
>
>> I know we recently tossed around the classifications of "such as" and
"for
>> example," but a student stumped me with this one:
>>
>> What is the function of the word "like" in the following sentence:
"It feels
>> like summer"? Would "like summer" be an adverb clause describing how
"it"
>> feels? I recognize "it" as the dummy placeholder subject, but
"feels" here
>> works as a linking verb describing a perception and should therefore
be
>> followed by an adjective instead of an adverb, right? How would you
work
>> this out on a tree diagram?
>>
>> I found this in the OED:
>>
>> 7. predicatively, in certain idiomatic uses, chiefly with the vbs.
feel,
>> look, sound: a. With gerund as regimen: Having the appearance of
(doing
>> something). b. Giving promise of (doing something); indicating the
>> probable presence of (something). c. colloq. In recent use (orig.
U.S.),
>> to feel like: to have an inclination for, be in the humour for.
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Heather Fester
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>> Bowling Green State University
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