<br><br><br><font style="color:rgb(0,0,0);"><font style="font-size:16px;">Dear all,</font><font style="font-size:14px;"><br><br></font><font style="font-size:16px;">I would like to ask you about two phenomena of the comparative construction. The first is the separation between the "comparative subject" (ComS) and the "attribute subject" (AttS), which can be seen in Mandarin Chinese:</font><br><br><font style="font-size:16px;">(1) daxiang bizi bi qita dongwu chang</font><br><font style="font-size:16px;"> elephant nose than other animals long</font><br><font style="font-size:16px;"> ComS AttS Compr St Adj</font><br><font style="font-size:16px;"> 'The elephant's nose is longer than other animals'</font><br><font style="font-size:16px;">(2) jiage women bi nimen gui.</font><br><font style="font-size:16px;"> price we than you expensive</font><br><font style="font-size:16px;"> AttS ComS Compr St Adj</font><br><font style="font-size:16px;"> 'Our price is more expensive than yours.' </font><br><br><font style="font-size:16px;">The AttS is the argument of the Adj, whereas the ComS-Adj is unacceptable (e.g., 'elephant long' is not what (1) expresses, but 'nose long' ).</font><br><br><font style="font-size:16px;">I am curious if such expressions are allowed in other languages, especially in languages with the "double-subject construction" such as Japanese and Korean. As far as I know, both "elephant nose long" and "price we expensive" should be valid in those languages. However, I do not know whether this double-subject construction is allowed in a comparative construction, like (1)-(2).</font></font><br><br><font style="font-size:16px;">The second phenonema is about the separation between what I termed as "abstract measurement" and "concrete measurement" of the Adj. I found this distinction in Zhoutun, a Chinese variety that is hugely influenced by Amdo Tibetan. Zhoutun distinguishes the two types of measurement in terms of the position:</font><br><br><font style="font-size:16px;">(3) a. This that than <b>three meters</b> <b>taller</b>. 'This is three meters taller than that.'</font><br><font style="font-size:16px;"> b. This that than <b>taller</b> <b>much</b>. 'This is much taller than that.'</font><font style="font-size:14px;"><br><br></font><font style="font-size:16px;">In (3), whereas the concrete measurement "three meters" precedes the Adj in (3a), the abstract measurement "much" follows the Adj in (3b).</font><font style="font-size:16px;"> I am curious if analogous cases exist in other languages. Any leads or insights would be appreciated!</font><font style="font-size:14px;"><br><br><br></font><font style="font-size:16px;">Best wishes,</font><br><font style="font-size:16px;">Chenlei</font><br><br>--<br>Zhou, Chenlei<br>Dept. of Syntax & Semantics,<br>Institute of Linguistics, <br>Chinese Academy of Social Sciences<br>#5 Jianguomennei Street, Beijing, 100732, P.R.China <br><br><br><br><html>
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