Robinson’s simplest form of the question “What is B?” has the answer, “A is B”
(where A is the subject and B is object), which can be generalised as the functional
relationship F(A,B) where the function F is either the simple copula “is” or a more
complex attribution. The questions we ask contain constraints that automatically
entail a series of instances based on these commonalities. We can see that there are
three possible variations on this simple statement:
(1) F(A, x) – which translates as “what values x do we find as F-values for A?”
(which is generally met as the derived forms “is there an A with an F-value of
x0?” or “what A0 exist such that their F-value is x0?”).
(2) F(x, B) – which translates as “what x exists such that it has an F-value of B?”
(3) x(A, B) – which translates as “is there a function x such that it gives B for A?”
(generally met with as the derived form “is there a link x0 between A and B?”).