Re: Comparison of sentences

> In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Eugene Oh <un.doing@...> wrote:
>Perhaps it would help if you made it explicit in your conlang what
>is being compared -- in the sentence "I sat at my desk longer than
>the day has hours", therefore, you might consider including the
>explicating phrase "for a time" to make "I sat at my desk for a time
>longer than the day has hours". Which might in turn be interpreted
>as "a time longer than the hours of the day". Compare the Japanese
>一日の時é–"より長くデスクで座っていた
>Ichinichi no jikan yori nagaku desuku de suwatte ita
>one-day GEN hours than long.Adv desk LOC sit.Imperfective-past
>Hope it helps.
No, it doesn't help, but thanks for trying.

Let me see if I can explain my problem more clearly.

1. I sat at my desk
2. longer than
3. the day has hours

1. I sat at my desk
2. for a time longer than
3. the day has hours

Are these two independent clauses or is #3 a dependent clause?

I am heavier
than ("in comparison to" in Senjecas)
he (him)

In this structure "he (him)" is the object of the
postposition "than."

In the previous example there is no noun or pronoun to be the
object of "than."

And that is my problem.  How do I express "comparative + than" when
it links two clauses & not two substantives?  It seem to me that
what is being compared is "I sat" & "day has."

Or maybe what is being compared is the time expression "for a time"
and the clause "day has hours."  There is still no substantive to be
the object of the postposition.  How else can I express "than."

Charlie
http://wiki.frath.net

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