NNoCop: The copula cannot be used with nominal predicates (but is used for adjectival and/or adverbial predicates).
she old woman
‘She is an old woman.’ (S. D.)
I old woman
‘I’m an old woman.’ (S. D.)
(3) am matum ēkwa ōl-s-um.
I old woman is-pst-1sg
’I was an old woman.’ (S. D.)
In Northern Mansi, there is no copula in nominal predicate constructions if the sentence is indicative and it is in the present tense (1–2), whereas, in the past tense, it is obligatory (3) (Riese 2001: 60).