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Re: Comparison of adjectives (was Re: Reviving an old tradition)

From:David J. Peterson <dedalvs@...>
Date:Friday, May 5, 2006, 0:28
I was at the LCC when this thread came up, so I'm not sure if
this is still relevant, but...

Jörg wrote:
<<
Comparison happens to be one of the subjects that the otherwise
excellent _Describing Morphosyntax_ by T. Payne completely neglects
to even mention, so, gentle readers, bookmark this thread!
 >>

Actually he does: page 88.  The section is short, but introduces
the reader to the basic idea.  It doesn't look like he mentions
languages that use a word like "surpasses/exceeds".  I can't think
of a natlang off hand, but it's something like:

The man surpasses the boy in girth.

Which would mean "The man is fatter than the boy."  For these
types of languages, you'd use something like "everyone" or
"everything" for the superlative.

-David
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Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>