> Chinese similarly lacks a 'to be' copula
What? No it doesn't. 是 is the Chinese copula.
It isn't permitted in a lot of contexts where it would be used in English, but it's still the copula. Here are the examples of copula use that wikipedia gives which require 是 in Chinese:
Mary and John are my friends.
The Morning Star is the Evening Star.
She was a nurse.
Dogs are carnivorous mammals.
I am your boss.