Re: Word orders in comparative constructions

On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 19:09, Jim Henry <jimhenry1973@...> wrote:
> 1. Does anyone know of any natlangs or conlangs with
> a word order other than QMS or SMQ?
I think Klingon doesn't really have a marker at all; comparatives work
like this:

"The idea of something being more or greater than something
else (comparative) is expressed by means of a construction
which can be represented by the following formula:

  A Q {law'} B Q {puS}

"In this formula, A and B are the two things being compared
and Q is the quality which is being measured. The two
Klingon words in the formula are {law'} <be many> and {puS} <be
few.> Thus, it says <A's Q is many, B's Q is few> or <A has more Q
than B has> or <A is Q-er than B.>"

Superlatives work the same way, with {Hoch} "all, everything" in the B position.

Lojban doesn't have a marker, either; comparatives and superlatives
are (in my experience) typically realised as a relation including the
morpheme -mau (<zmadu) "more", -me'a (<mleca) "less", or -rai (<traji)
"superlative", with the comparee and the standard simply being
arguments of that relation. Alternatively, using one of those three
root words and adding the relation as a third argument.

For example, {la djan. bramau la meris.} "John is-bigger-than Mary" or
{la djan. zmadu la meris. lo ka ce'u barda} "John exceeds Mary in the
property of being tall".

Or, with different word order, {la djan. la meris. bramau}; {la djan.
la meris. lo ka ce'u barda cu zmadu}.

And with specific excess: {la djan. bramau la meris. lo centre be li
pa re} / {la djan. zmadu la meris. lo ka ce'u barda ku lo centre be li
pa re} "John is bigger than Mary by twelve centimetres" (lo centre be
li pa re = something which is this many hundredth-metres in length:
one two).

Cheers,
Philip
--
Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>

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