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Is there a comparative construction that employs a marker of the standard which elsewhere has a locational meaning?

Summary

This feature identifies comparative constructions that mark the standard of comparison with an element that is otherwise locational or benefactive in meaning. In these constructions a marker that also has a locational (or benefactive) function is invariably found in the standard NP. Please note that benefactive markers are included here, following Stassen’s (1984, 1985) category of locational comparatives. The marker of the property word is irrelevant for this feature (e.g. the English -er suffix, as in tall-er).

Procedure

  1. If there is a comparative construction in which the standard of comparison is marked with an element that has a locational meaning in non-comparative contexts, code 1.
  2. If there is a comparative construction that uses a standard marker that otherwise has a benefactive meaning, code 1.
  3. If there is no comparative construction that uses an element that elsewhere has a locational or benefactive meaning, code 0.

Examples

Egyptian Arabic (ISO 639-3: arz, Glottolog: egyp1253)

The particle min (glossed as ‘than’), which otherwise functions as a preposition meaning ‘from’, can be used to form a comparative (Abdel-Massih 1979, 25-26) in Egyptian Arabic. Egyptian Arabic is coded 1.

Further reading

Stassen, Leon. 1984. The comparative compared. Journal of Semantics 3. 143–182.

Stassen, Leon. 1985. Comparison and Universal Grammar. Oxford: Blackwell.

Ultan, Russell. 1972. Some features of basic comparative constructions. Working Papers on Language Universals 9. 117–162.

References

Abdel-Massih, Ernest T. 1979. A reference grammar of Egyptian Arabic. (A Comprehensive Study of Egyptian Arabic, 3.) Ann Arbor: Center for Near Eastern and North African Studies, University of Michigan.

Related Features

Patron

Hannah J. Haynie