[Lingtyp] BE + PAST PARTICIPLE in modern English

[Sergey Lyosov]

Dear colleagues,
what do we know about the periphrasis “BE + PAST PARTICIPLE” in modern English? It looks like not all verbs are compatible with it, and the aspectual meaning of the construction depends on the Aktionsart/lexical semantics of the verb. Consider 'a house is built  by wisdom’, ‘he is gone, ‘the glass is broken’, ‘it is already done’, "you do not buy it, it is given to you’ (as a stewardess on a Pan Am flight told me back in 1990).  
What do people say/read about it?
 
Thank you very much,
 
Sergey
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