*unsubscribes from trolls*

I still contend that, if for no other reason than the fact that they are in the same category called “language,” there must be similarities between Japanese and English; otherwise, they would be categorically different things. And even if the similarities are few and far between, then it’s still better to give a paltry explanation than the retort that’s unnaturally abundant around here: “Don’t bother.” If the latter were the reply to most questions in life, then it would be a miracle if anyone ever learned anything. It does not at all follow from the supposed fact that contact points between languages may be few that only a few things may be learned by comparing them.

Now, onward with my question: Wikipedia (via @joel) said that です is a verb — specifically, a state-of-being verb (or copula). Is it the case, then, that じゃありません is also a copula, but negative? Or is it some form of the verb あります, which is not a copula?

(P.S. — Though I’m not willing to accept the “Don’t bother” response, I will dutifully listen to someone who, with good reason, says, “Don’t bother right now.” In other words, if TextFugu deals with all this in a later chapter, then I’ll willingly suspend my questions till that time.)

Thank you for the straightforward answer. That’s exactly what I wanted to know.