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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=FR link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Dear Chenlei,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a name="_Hlk12114711"><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Mandinka (Mande, Senegal) does not have a construction similar to the so-called double-subject construction found in East-Asian languages, but it seems to me that in other respects, the following exemple is quite similar to the Mandarin example you quote :<o:p></o:p></span></a></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Kàláa lè lá tíñáaróo wàrátá tàmbôo tí</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>pen-FOC-GEN-damage-is.big-spear-in.comparison.with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>‘The damage caused by a pen is bigger that that caused by a spear’ (proverb)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>lit. ‘The damage of a pen is bigger than a spear.’<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Best wishes,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Denis<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>De :</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Lingtyp [mailto:lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org] <b>De la part de</b> ???<br><b>Envoyé :</b> mardi 14 février 2023 23:15<br><b>À :</b> lingtyp<br><b>Objet :</b> [Lingtyp] query: comparative constructions<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><br><br><br><span style='color:black'>Dear all,</span><span style='font-size:10.5pt;color:black'><br><br></span><span style='color:black'>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:<br><br>(1) daxiang bizi bi qita dongwu chang<br> elephant nose than other animals long<br> ComS AttS Compr St Adj<br> 'The elephant's nose is longer than other animals'<br>(2) jiage women bi nimen gui.<br> price we than you expensive<br> AttS ComS Compr St Adj<br> 'Our price is more expensive than yours.' <br><br>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' ).<br><br>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).</span><br><br>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:<br><br>(3) a. This that than <b>three meters</b> <b>taller</b>. 'This is three meters taller than that.'<br> b. This that than <b>taller</b> <b>much</b>. 'This is much taller than that.'<span style='font-size:10.5pt'><br><br></span>In (3), whereas the concrete measurement "three meters" precedes the Adj in (3a), the abstract measurement "much" follows the Adj in (3b). I am curious if analogous cases exist in other languages. Any leads or insights would be appreciated!<span style='font-size:10.5pt'><br><br><br></span>Best wishes,<br>Chenlei<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><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>