Re: Comparison of adjectives (dumb question department)

I wrote:
>> > Sorry to ask this, but I've forgotten, and can't find the answer on
>>google
>> > or wikipedia....
>>
>> > In a sentence like : John is older than Henry -- which is the
>>comparandum,
>> > which the comparatum?
===================================

Well, I did find this on teh google:
"Similes are composed of two parts: comparandum, the thing to be compared,
and the comparatum, the thing to which the comparison is made. [RM: which of
course is what the Latin terms mean] For example in the simile "The snow was
like a blanket", "the snow" is the comparandum while "a blanket" is the
comparatum."

In a more specific discussion of comparatives, I also found that in e.g.
"John is older than Henry", John is the _target of comparison_ and Henry is
the _standard of comparison_.  That's still hard to relate to
comparandum--comparatum.  I know I've seen those terms used in relation to
comparative constructions!! Quite likely here on Conlang-L.....

Help! Ray Brown-- does Trask's dictionary of Ling. Terms have anything on
this??

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